Starting Again
by PoisonRogue
Summary: AU. Rogue can't take it at home anymore and decides to leave Mississippi and her family forever. ROMY. Please R&R. Complete.
1. Leaving

She couldn't take it anymore. It was that simple - just one last bitchy fight and the realization that she didn't belong in this life anymore made her leave.

She wanted to tell her brother where she was going, she knew he would be upset at her leaving without informing him or even writing a quick note and leaving it on his pillow, so that he knew that she had not abandoned him entirely. But if she told Kurt where she was going, he would surely have told their mother and all of Rogues plans would have been halted once again.

Rogue, that was her name now. No longer would she be called by her real name - it was only ever her mother and Kurt who ever called her by it anyway. All her friends, the few that she had called her Rogue – a kind of adolescent ode to her because of her dismissive and solitary nature. By those who did not know her at all and kept they're distance, she was nicknamed the ice queen. But that was only a front – a facade if you will. Rogue knew it, her friends knew it, hell even her mother knew it but that was beside the point. It was an image, Rogue had more or less created for herself.

For some reason or another she couldn't bring herself to trust people easily, wouldn't let people get too close to her - maybe it was just an inbred defense mechanism, something to keep the evilness that people too easily inflicted on others away. Though, in turn that very self-protection made her an outcast – but not an easy target.

However, what she needed was space, to get away from everything that had become familiar and insanely monotonous to her, that she had grown up with. Rogue wanted out of the simple life that was Caldecott County, Mississippi and the conflict between herself and her mother was the last straw.

The words spouted between the orderly, wrathful Raven and the fiery goth that was her daughter were spry and furious. The end result, Raven telling her to leave if she didn't like her rules and this time, Rogue decided to take her up on that offer.

So now here she was, waiting at the dank and dirty bus station in the small Mississippi town at three am in the morning. It had been five hours since the last bus left and Rogue had only just missed it.

She was pissed at herself, at her mother, at the world. She felt lost in herself - that was the problem with Rogue. She was so angry at the world, the fact that everyone around her was always so happy-go-lucky didn't help matters at all. There was an inner darkness to her soul that ate her up inside, a blackness that she could neither understand or bare to own. It was a feeling she so desperately wanted to be rid of or to at least exert and the only way, she decided was to leave and find somewhere where she could be at peace with herself and find a 'cure' for her demons.

"Ouch!" she mumbled, at the soreness of her bottom on the cold bench she was perched on.

_'That's it, ah don't care where its goin' but the next bus that gets heah, ah'm getting on it'_ She though impatiently to herself.

As if someone were reading her mind, an old rusted Greyhound bus pulled slowly into the station, it's ghostly dim lights bobbing around in the darkness as it pulled up with a loud his outside the dilapidated station building and stopped a few feet away from Rogue.

She pulled herself up from the uncomfortable bench and hefted the large black shoulder bag she had brought along over her shoulder and heaved herself over to the bus. The grey haired bus driver looked at her suspiciously, before opening the vehicle door – narrowing his eyes in weirded amusement at the tired looking youth before him.

"Excuse meh, but wheah is this bus goin'?" Rogue asked boldly. The bus driver regarded her a little more, before deciding that she probably wasn't drunk or a hooker. He sighed loudly and turned to face her in his seat.

"Be leaving for New Orleans in about thirty minutes miss." The mans voice drawled. Rogue inwardly sighed. It wasn't that far away from Caldecott County, not as far as she hoped to get anyway,but it was a start.

"How much ta get theah?" She asked despondently.

"Twenty dollars miss" He replied curtly.

Rogue dropped the heavy bag and dug her hand into the pocket of her black trousers and produced two ten dollar notes and stepped up into the bus and passed them over to the waiting driver.

"Hop on" the man invited, uninterested before handing her a ticket receipt and made to get up from his seat to put her bag in the luggage compartment.

"Thanks" Rogue mumbled quietly before moving her way through the bus aisle and sitting about midway down, shifting herself across the seat to the window. She sat there for another twenty minutes or so before the bus driver returned and climbed into his seat. He settled himself and looked up into the rear view mirror and looked directly at Rogue.

"You ready to go?" He asked loudly, almost jovially.

Rogue looked up quickly, a little shocked that he had said anything.

_'Well heah goes nothin''_ she thought.

"Yeah" she answered sadly and looked back out the window again. The bus driver smirked a little and shook his head slightly morosely as he shifted the old bus into gear.

_'Another runway'_ he thought absently to himself and turned the bus around the rural station and back out onto the highway.

"Then to New Orleans we go" he replied.


	2. Arriving

Her head banged sharply against the murky window as the bus came to an abrupt halt. Rogue groaned and opened her eyes groggily, adjusting her eyes to the early morning sun glaring through the glass.

"Last stop, New Orleans" The bus driver called from the front of the vehicle.

A few people that had got on at various other stops throughout the journey, started to move about and made their way gradually off the bus.

Rogue sighed tiredly. She had only managed to get a few hours of uncomfortable sleep and she was now feeling very irritable. After a few more minutes contemplation, she mustered the strength to pull herself out of her seat and got off the bus to retrieve her bag from where it would be unloaded off the rusty old Greyhound. The already bright sun and rising humidity was disorientating to say the least.

"Here's your bag miss" the bus drivers voice sounded from beside her causing her to jump uncharacteristically in surprise.

"Thanks" she mumbled as the bus driver handed her the bag. Taking in her surroundings of the long concrete bus station, Rogue realized for the first time that she hadn't a clue as to what she was going to do. Leaving home had been one idea, taking every dollar to her name was another - but what she was going to do now was something she hadn't thought about.

She berated herself silently for the her obvious disorganization and looked around for some sort of inspiration. Nothing came to her.

"Excuse meh, Suh" she approached the bus driver again who was still unloading bags.

"Ya couldn't tell meh the tahme?" He stood and faced her, glancing at the black strapped watch on his wrist.

"'Bout nine. If your looking for the French Quarter you gotta head down Julia Street here, till ya hit St Charles and you gotta turn left. That'll lead you straight to where you wanna be. Good luck miss" He continued ominously, before winking and turning away from her back to his previous task.

Rogue, a little taken back by the unrequested information, glanced around the bus station and with one last sigh headed in the direction the bus driver had told her to go for the French Quarter.

After eventually finding her way into the bustling and lively streets of New Orleans infamous Vieux Carre, Rogue managed to find a hostel that she could stay at for a few nights. She was now standing at the end of Dauphine Street. Her stomach growled hungrily as she spotted an outdoor café a few shops from her. Rogue dug her hand into her pocket and felt around for some money. Pulling out a worn looking ten dollar bill.

'Great, ah've only just left and ah'm already runnin' out of money.'

But at her stomachs request, she made her way over to the café and sat down.

After finishing her coffee and beignet, Rogue sat back and watched the steadily building throngs of people, that were obviously not uncommon here. She hated crowds, not because they were a nuisance but just because she never felt overly comfortable with being in close contact with other people. Rogue had always felt like that, ever since she was a child - the further people stayed away, the more comfortable she was.

'What am ah gonna do now?' she thought tiredly.

Her day had mostly been spent wandering around her new surroundings thinking about what was going to happen next. But unavoidably, her mind kept reverting back to what would be happening at home. Was her mother worried? How was Kurt taking her leaving? - She hadn't even left a note.

A deep sense of guilt traveled through her. How could she feel like this now?. There were just too many questions and Rogue couldn't answer them. Her train of thought was cut short when there was the sound of a plate smashing against a wall and the angry voice of a man telling someone to get out from the inside of the café.

Not long after, the waitress that had served Rogue earlier, stormed out of the door followed by the still yelling man telling her to never come back if she knew what was good for her.

Rogue watched the now obviously, ex-waitress disappear out of sight and turned her attention to the seething café owner who was muttering something about untrustworthy staff and till pickers. He grumbled angrily and walked back inside.

Without a second thought, Rogue jumped out of her seat and followed the man into the café and over to the counter. The man didn't noticed her while he started to clean up the smashed plate from the floor with a dustpan and bush, until she coughed quietly into her hand. His head shot up to look at the person who had disturbed his silent ranting.

"What?" he demanded angrily.

"Ah was just wonderin' if ya needed any help around . . ."

"Look, I got help. Believe me, I don't need anymore" the man shot back before Rogue could finish. She instantly set her face into one of her glares and placed one of her hands on her hip.

"Well ah couldn't help but notice that yoah one waitress short" She replied strangely calm, but none the less determined. The man stood up and sighed. Pouring the broken china into a trash can behind the counter.

"What do you want kid?" he asked resignedly.

"A job"

"Can you wait tables?"

"Ah can do it". He sighed again and then held out his hand.

"Harry" He introduced himself. Rogue took his hand and shook it lightly.

"Rogue and ah'm not a kid" She replied curtly. Harry let go of her hand and looked at her strangely.

"Strange name" he muttered quietly while taking a mug and placing it under a coffee machine.

"So?" Rogue retaliated sharply. Harry snapped back at her, pointing his finger blatantly at her and then the door.

"Hey, don't start getting mouthy. You can start tomorrow morning". Before returning to his coffee machine. Rogue smiled and walked towards the exit of Harry's Hideaway. Things looked like they were going to be alright.


	3. Living

Rogue brushed away the annoying strand of white hair that kept falling into her face and sighed dramatically against the old wooden counter she was leaning against. She had been working for almost six hours non-stop all day and she was just about to finish.

"Can ah go yet?" She moaned from her position by the counter.

"Yeah, sure. Here's your wages." Harry handed over a few bills and carried on counting up the day's takings.

Rogue pushed away from the unit, taking off her black apron and slinging it onto the side in a heap. Grabbing her bag she put the money in the back pocket and flung it over her shoulder.

"Thanks. See ya tamorrow Harry" she called as she left through the cafe door, just about hearing Harry shout a nonchalant farewell in return.

Walking down the street, Rogue sighed in contemplation. Shoving her hands in her trouser pockets, she slowed her pace down and looked at the ground. She had been here for just over three weeks now and was quickly becoming well adjusted to living in New Orleans; in fact she had to admit to herself that she was starting to think of the place as home.

She still had nowhere permanent to live and with the hostel she was staying at, due to close it's doors soon because of lack of funding, she would have to start looking for somewhere new to inhabit.

Her thoughts drifted back to the morning before - she had finally mustered the courage to write a letter to her younger brother Kurt, explaining why she had left. Rogue had felt so guilty since leaving, she had hoped that maybe those feelings were just an effect of her sudden decision to leave and she was forever trying to convince herself that Kurt would understand.

But there was a nagging feeling in the back of her mind and eventually she gave in and wrote him a letter. 'Its so stupid. One minute, yoah wishing ya were an only child an' the next yoah wishing that Kurt was heah with ya'. She smirked at the thought. All that time, shouting at him to quit going into her room uninvited and to stop being so annoying - she never realised how much she really cared for him.

"Hey Rogue! Wait up!" Rogue turned her head to look behind her and saw a girl with cropped blonde hair running to catch up.

"Phew . . . hey, you were s'posed. . to wait for me remember?" the girl gasped, obviously out of breath after running the short distance. Rogue gave her a half smile and carried on walking, the girl falling in-step beside her.

"Sorry Tabby. Ah forgot". She apolized.

"Whatever, anyway I thought we were going out tonight?" Rogue sighed.

"Ah dunno Tabs, ah don't feel lahke goin' out and besides, we never get served in those clubs anyway . . ."

"Ohhhh, come on. It'll be fun". Tabitha moaned at her and pulled a mock pout, which caused Rogue to smirk a little.

"Look, I'm going to go and get changed and I'm going to meet you in an hour so you'd better be ready or I'm going to drag you out in whatever your wearing" Tabitha growled in frustration. Rogue glowered at her friends insistence and threw her arms up in the air in a fit of exasperation.

"Fahne". Tabitha smiled proudly and ran off. Rogue watched her friend and workmate go, despite the hostile front that kept most people away from Rogue, Tabby had ignored it and insisted on becoming her friend. Inside, Rogue was grateful for having at least one person who genuinely seemed to give a damn about her - even if Tabitha was sometimes a little too hyperactive and girly for her liking.

Rogue got to the hostel and stepped into her room. It was a single room with a small private bathroom off to the side. It was what anyone working in the property selling business would call 'cosy', it was functional but Rogue knew she would have to find somewhere more permanent to live if she wanted to stay in New Orleans soon.

She collapsed onto her bed face down and lay there for a few minutes with her eyes closed trying to let the stress of the day leave her body. 'Lahke that'll happen' she thought grimly to herself and moved her head to look at the clock on the table beside the bed. 'Great, Tabby's gonna be heah in twenty minutes an' all ah wanna do is go ta sleep'.

Rogue pulled herself up and walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Ten minutes later she was stood in front of a half full closet in just a towel, rifling through the few items she had brought with her and a few pieces she had acquired since.

Picking out some black pants, a tight black vest top and khaki netted, see-through top that hung just of one shoulder, she got dressed. 'This will have ta do' she thought solemnly. After putting on her usual dark make-up, she was startled when a knock came at the door. She went over and opened it, seeing Tabitha outside, she left the door open and put on her boots. Tabby smiled and shook her head.

"One day I swear I'm going to get you out of wearing black all the time".

"Ah'm wearin' green as well," Rogue said in protest.

"Yeah, but the rest is black. You ready to go?" Without answering, Rogue got up and followed Tabitha out.

After wondering down Bourbon Street for a while, Tabitha eventually led them into a small, almost invisible alleyway squashed between two large buildings. Tabitha walked ahead and stopped at a doorway and looked behind her to see Rogue staring at her curiously.

"Come on, we're here now" She called to her friend.

"And where is exactly is that?" Rogue asked with a raised eyebrow, crossing her arms over her chest.

"This is the club I was telling you about the other day, you know the one with all the celebrities?" She explained. Rogue remained silent and looked at her suspiciously. Tabitha sighed and turned to the doorway and knocked three times. The door opened about three inches.

"Jack Daniels on the rocks" Tabby whispered into the gap. The door opened fully and Tabitha grabbed her friend's arm and dragged her through the door. Rogue was startled to say the least.

"Ah can't believe ya brought me ta a place that needs a password ta git in" She whispered accusingly. Tabby turned and smiled at her.

"Oh c'mon, this is great. Where's your sense of adventure?" Rogue snorted.

"At home with the rest of mah senses obviously". Tabby frowned at her and led them into the dark club. The thumping of the music vibrated of the walls and random lights flashed from the ceiling and over the dance area, making the place almost seem like an attempted interpretation of hell.

People were swarming all over the place, some dressed in overly gothic attire that even made Rogue look twice, the majority of people moving like a wave to the heavy beating of the music.

Tabby grinned devilishly and dragged Rogue over to the dance floor. After a while Rogue had to admit she was starting to like the place, even if at first she was put off by the amount of people in the club. Tabitha was enjoying herself and was currently dancing fairly intimately with some random guy whom she had no idea was. Rogue sighed internally, sometimes she wished she could be carefree like her friend, but the shyer side of her personality always stood in the way.

She pushed her way through the crowds and made her way over to the bar. Dancing for a good hour had made her thirsty, grabbing a barstool she propped herself up on it and ordered a JD and coke. The bartender brought over her drink and she downed the glass in three mouthfuls and then ordered the same again. Rogue turned her head to look for Tabitha; she could just about see her head still dancing. Her drink came and she repeated the process of downing it.

"Y'know if your goin' t'do dat y'should be drinking something stronger" a deep accented voice came from beside her. Rogue turned her head and glared at the person who dared to tell her how to drink.

Her breath caught when she saw the man standing next to her. He was tall and lean but muscled in all the right places. His auburn bed head hair fell over his eyes, that were so dark and mesmerising that the comeback Rogue had been about to give was trapped in the back of her throat. The man smirked at the obvious effect he was having on the girl. The bartender appeared as if from nowhere in front of them.

"Two bourbons, sil vous plait". The man ordered while not breaking eye contact with Rogue. The bartender placed the glasses in front of the mysterious man who slid one in front of Rogue. Rogue snapped out of her dreamland and glared once again at the man.

"Ah never said ah wanted a drink". She said irritably.

"Too bad, I t'ought you could take your drink, but obviously I was wrong" The man smirked at her and downed his drink. Taking this as a challenge, Rogue took the glass and knocked it back making sure the liquid never touched her tongue and then smirked in return.

"Remy LeBeau" He introduced himself and signalled the bartender for two more drinks. Rogue groaned inwardly at the guy's cocky attitude. He was obviously a player and she for the moment was his new challenge.

"Rogue" She muttered, waiting for the usual 'isn't that a strange name', but was relatively surprised to hear nothing of the sort.

Remy admired the girl beside him. She wasn't exactly the air headed skirt that he usually went for, in fact she was near enough the complete opposite, neither was she stunningly beautiful. But she sure was something good to look at.

"So, why is a belle femme such as y'rself sat here alone"? He started, knowing it was a bad line, but hell it always got some sort of reaction. Rogue sighed 'oh man, here it goes'.

"Ah came heah, with mah friend. She's around somewhere". She said looking around for good effect.

"Friends huh, never can rely on em'".

"Tell meh about it" She sighed and looked back at the bar. Deciding that wherever Tabby was, she wasn't going to be re-appearing for a while.

"So what are ya, French or somethin'?" Rogue asked Remy. He smiled at the attempt of starting a conversation.

"Nah, m' what y' would call a Cajun". He replied. Rogue nodded mutely and looked back over at the dancing wave of people. Remy smirked and ordered two more bourbons, which the bartender brought over again. Rogue smiled when he pushed one of the drinks in front of her and both drank in unison. 'This is gonna be a long nahte' she thought tiredly.

Rogue sat there for a few more hours, mostly with Remy by her side except when some skin flashing airhead would come over and disturb them from their drinking and drag Remy off to dance. But Rogue was surprised when he kept coming back. She was currently sat there alone and swirling a half empty glass of Jack Daniels in her hand when Tabby stumbled over to her with a guy standing behind her.

"Hey Rogue, s'so I'm going home now, I' I'll see you later". Aimee slurred at her, before giving her a clumsy hug and then walked off with her 'date' of the night. Rogue smiled at her friends drunken state and realised she shouldn't be so quick to judge; she wasn't in exactly the best of conditions either. 'One more and then ah'm leavin' befoah that Cajun comes back over heah'. She thought to herself and promptly ordered another drink.

Downing both the Jack Daniels she had before and the last one quickly, she attempted to stand and found that as soon as she stood, the room became a big mash of black and red and the occasional flash of white dotted her already dizzy view of the club. Rogue gulped and then made her way slowly out towards the exit.

Remy from his current stance in the dancing wave of people, caught the sight of the girl he was talking to earlier over the head of the current girl he was dancing with. He noticed her stumble off the barstool she was sat at and make her way unsteadily towards the exit. 'Had too much to drink dere chére' he smirked to himself.

But for once he felt a little guilty. He had a played a part in getting her like that and now he was just watching her walk out or more like stumble out of the club. He inwardly grimaced but continued to dance, it wasn't his concern.

Rogue instantly felt her insides turn as she got out into the alleyway. She held onto the walls for support and stumbled down around the corner and onto the main street. 'Ah'm so gonna regret this in th' mornin' she thought grimly and grabbed for any solid object she could make out of her blurred vision.

Dragging her feet, Rogue went to grab for a lamppost but missed and fell to the floor, hitting her head hard on the cold pavement. She moaned and tried to get back up, but couldn't. Her eyes began to feel tired and heavy, 'don't fall asleep Rogue, do not fall asleep', but her own instructions weren't enough to keep the darkness from overcoming her.


	4. Awakening

Her head swirled like she was on a ship in the middle of a violent storm, she could hear a voice. Someone was talking to her, saying something that she couldn't quite hear. The darkness was overwhelming and chilling. She needed to wake up, now.

Rogue opened her eyes slowly and then closed them again at the sharp invasion of light that entered her eyes. She closed her eyes immediately and rolled her head to the other side of the pillow and sighed. 'What the hell happened last nahte' she thought cursedly trying to remember the events that had occurred the night before. 'Ah remember sittin' at th' bar drinkin' then ah left and . . . wait a minute, ah collapsed on th' street! So how th' hell did mah head get on a pillow' she opened her eyes suddenly as the memories of last night - or at least what she could remember, flashed into her mind.

Rogue scanned the room she was in and bolted up into sitting position, causing a large throb of pain to overwhelm her head. A low moan escaped her throat and she raised a hand to rub her head tenderly before once again attempting to find out exactly where she was.

Rogue suddenly felt a large stab of panic erupt in the pit of he stomach and looked around the bed she was currently sitting up right in. The room was fairly small - just about big enough to fit the small queen-sized bed in the center and a small chest beside a classic balconette window. 'Oh mah Gahd, where am ah?' she thought nervously and looked down quickly and breathed a sigh of relief when she realized that all her clothes were still on, except her boots which were placed by the closed bedroom door.

Throwing the covers off her, she got up from the bed and put her boots on. Taking a quick look out the window, Rogue instantly knew that she was somewhere in the French Quarter, ' At least ah'm still in New Orleans' she thought gratefully.

Intent on finding out exactly where she was, Rogue opened the closed door and looked out hesitantly into an open plan living room, which consisted of two sofas and a large television set. Rogue walked out of the room quietly, only reaching a few steps away from the door when an all too familiar face appeared from the opposite end of the room.

"Mornin' chérie. Sleep well?" The oh-so cocky smirk appearing on his handsome features.

Rogue felt like she was going to hyperventilate and gaped in shock at the person who had obviously taken her off the street for the night. Remy continued to smirk as he sauntered into the living room with a mug of coffee in one hand and placed it on the coffee table in front of the television.

"Y' want one?" He asked, gesturing at the mug of coffee. Rogue shook her head mutely, finally feeling the ability to breath again.

"Y' sure y're ok?" Remy questioned curiously.

"Yeah, ah'm fahne. Thanks" She added after a moment. Crossing her arms over her chest, embarrassed at the fact that she was in this man's home, who she barely knew and he had seen her passed out. Rogue tried desperately to remain calm and collected but was finding it increasingly difficult.

"Y' wanna take a shower or anythin' petite?" Remy asked cautiously. Rogue's eyes shot up instantly and met his own, but her over the top reaction died down when she realized she probably looked terrible and could probably do with cleaning up.

"If ya wouldn't mind" She mumbled, almost incoherently. Remy simply smiled at her reaction to such a simple question.

"Bathrooms jus' round dere, next t' de room y' stayed in". He pointed in the direction Rogue had emerged from. Rogue gave a half smile and muttered a 'thanks' before heading in the direction of the bathroom.

Remy watched her go until the bathroom door closed and decided to pass the time by watching some television. He sat down on the sofa directly opposite the entertainment set and switched it on with the remote. Picking up the dark and still steaming coffee, he sat back in the comfortable sofa with his feet rested on the coffee table and took a sip of the hot drink in his hand.

Uninterested by what was happening on the screen, Remy thought back to what happened the night before. He had watched her leave the club in a much worse state than he would have originally thought and had been a little concerned to say the least.

At first he had just turned away and carried on dancing with the girl he was with, but then for some reason - Remy had rushed out of the club in pursuit of the girl he had watched leave and had found her lying on the street not far from the alleyway the club was situated in. After finding her, he couldn't just let her lie there on the street - so, not knowing who the friend she had came with was or where she lived, he had done the only thing he could think of - and the only thing his conscience would let him do.

Remy sighed in contemplation. The thing that got him about the whole situation was why he had been so concerned about her in the first place and that he had gone after her. He was Remy LeBeau, widely known in New Orleans as a ladies man, the love-em and leave-em type. Never had he actually been worried about any of the women he had been with, except her - and he hadn't even slept with her. 'Damn it homme, y're gettin soft' he thought silently, taking another mouthful of coffee and savoring the taste.

But in the end, he concluded that it was just his conscience getting the better of him and refused to think about it anymore and turned his attention back to the television program.

* * *

Rogue entered the compact, but neatly presented bathroom and closed the door and leaned back against it. She closed her eyes and sighed softly, she knew she was going to regret all that whiskey she had drunk last night.

Looking up, she noticed that there was a neatly folded white towel beside the shower. Stepping away from the door, she reached inside the shower and turned it on. Turning back she locked the bathroom door and then removed her clothing and stepped into the scolding water coming from the shower.

After washing herself with some soap and then stepping out of the shower and drying herself with the provided towel, Rogue found herself looking at her reflection in the mirror above the sink. Her hair was pushed back, a little wet from the shower - her eyes were puffy and bloodshot and her skin was pale and gray. 'Gahd ah look lahke shit' she thought miserably as she prodded a sore looking, purpling bruise on one side of her face from where she had fallen heavily.

Her head felt like it was going to explode from the amount of throbbing it was doing. Rogue merely looked away, she felt awful, so it kind of made sense that she should look like it as well. Replacing her sorry looking ensemble of clothing on her body, she ran her fingers through her hair and exited the bathroom.

Walking back into the living room, Rogue noticed the television was on and Remy was sitting in front of it with his feet up on the coffee table, relaxed back into the sofa. Rogue cleared her throat softly, causing Remy to look over the edge of the sofa he was on and smiling warmly.

"Ah gotta git goin' so ah guess, ah jus' wanted ta say thanks foah helping me last nahte". She stated a little unsure.

"Not a problem chére". He replied, still sat in his position in front of the television. Rogue smiled, causing her head to throb harder and she raised a hand at once to her temple and rubbed it. Remy noticed her action and got up from the sofa and disappeared out of the room.

Rogue hadn't even realized he had gone until she looked up and found Remy standing in front of her with a glass of water in one hand and two tablets in the other. Rogue looked up at him dubiously.

"For y're hangover" he explained and passed her the water and the tablets. Deciding that the tablets probably were for her hangover, Rogue popped them in her mouth and then took a couple of mouthfuls of water.

"Come on, I'll take y' home" Remy smiled as he took the glass of water from her and put it on the side. Taking a brown trench coat that was lying on the sofa he hadn't been sitting on, he led Rogue out the door.

After, leading her through many back streets and such that Rogue had never even known existed, they eventually stopped outside the hostel Rogue was staying at. Remy looked at the place unenthusiastically and his lips formed a grim line as he stood alongside Rogue.

They had talked a bit walking through the French Quarter and Rogue had found herself relatively surprised, realizing that Remy wasn't as bad as she had originally thought. He had asked her questions like where she worked and how long she had been in New Orleans, but had surprisingly kept away from the questions that Rogue was dreading, like where she had come from and why had she left. She couldn't answer those questions to anyone, not yet anyway.

"So, thanks again" She broke the silence that had engulfed them both as they stood before the hostel. Remy turned and faced her and brought up a hand to move the hair from out of her eyes and touch the now swelling bruise on the side of her face. Rogue instantly flinched from the slightest touch of his hand and he immediately withdrew it.

Rogue looked up at him apologetically - their eyes met, seemingly unable to draw themselves away from one another. Remy felt his breath catch in his throat and tried not to show it on the outside. Rogue was the first to break the silence once again.

"Ah better go, ah got work in 'bout an hour" She spoke quietly. Remy simply nodded in reply, still regaining his previous guise. Rogue broke eye contact and turned to walk into the hostel. Remy swiftly caught her hand as she turned and brought it to his lips. Kissing her hand softly he looked back into her eyes and gave an ever so-suave grin.

"I'll be seein' y' round chérie" He released her hand, took a few backward steps and then walked off.

All Rogue could do was watch him leave in shock. Seeing the billowing trail of his trench coat disappear around the corner of a building, she sighed heavily and a frown crossed her face. 'Damn swamp rat' Rogue thought testily as she turned once again and stomped into the hostel.


	5. Reappearance

Propped up on top of one of the cafe counters, Rogue concentrated entirely on the contents of the large black and white newspaper she was reading intently.

A whole week had passed since her 'little' incident at the club and a whole week since she had seen her Cajun savior. She had been worried about meeting with him again, especially since the way in which they parted seven days ago was on his part, intentionally flirtatious.

It made Rogue nervous to think that someone was paying that sort of attention to her, considering her defensive, cold and often aggressive behavior that mostly kept people away. In all, she was glad she hadn't seen or heard anything of him 'Theah must be a Gahd' she thought ruefully.

But still, a part of her felt a little disappointed that he hadn't made an appearance. Thoughts of him began to invade her mind and she shook her head softly to bring herself back to concentrating on the task at hand, barely noticing the presence of someone behind her, looking over her shoulder.

"Sooo, what ya doin'?" came the cheery voice of Tabitha from behind, making Rogue jump unexpectedly.

"Shit Tabby! Do ya have ta do thaht?" Rogue cried indignantly as she glared at her friend. Tabby held her hands up in protest and stepped away.

"Sorry. I was bored, couldn't help it" The girl explained, smiling sheepishly as she grabbed a tea towel and started drying a plate that was on the draining board across from where her friend was sitting. Rogue ceased to glare at her and started reading the paper again.

"Man, I hate it when it rains like this." Tabitha commented off-handedly as she watched the heavy drops of water splash forcefully against the ground from the large shop window of the cafe. Rogue looked up from the paper and to what Tabby was talking about.

"Ah dunno, ah kinda' lahke it" She replied softly.

"Well I hate it. It makes work so boring - no-one goes out when its like this" Rogue smiled at Tabby's huff and decided to ignore her ranting. She was right though, Rogue had to give her that.

The place was practically empty with just a small family over in the corner having a late dinner and a love-sick couple sat at the window letting their coffee's go cold, while staring all gooey-eyed into each others eyes, making Rogue roll her own at the sight.

"So what happened with that guy from the club?" Tabby asked, fully recovered from her tirade about the weather.

"What guy?" Rogue mumbled indifferently as she continued to read not even looking up.

"Y'know, the one who picked you up off the street" Tabby watched closely for a reaction from her friend. Rogue lowered her head and tried desperately to look as if she hadn't been thinking about a certain Cajun for the past week.

"Oh, him. Nothin'" She answered nonchalantly. Tabby looked away a little disappointed that she would have nothing to tease her friend about.

"Well you can't have em' all I s'pose. Hey, you should come out with me and Sam tonight . . ." She looked across at Rogue, hopeful that she would agree.

"What and watch you two all over each other all nahte? Nah thanks" Rogue cut her off.

"Fine, I was just trying to get you out of that stinking mood you've been in all week" Tabby shot back, offended at Rogue's interruption.

"Ah cain't believe yoah goin' out with him" Rogue commented quietly.

"Why? He's nice, there's no reason for me not to see him" Tabby replied in defence. Rogue looked up at her and raised an eyebrow.

"Ya met him in a club Tabs. He could be serial killing maniac foah all ya know" Rogue tried to reason.

Tabitha simply shook her head and turned away, refusing to let her friend continue. Seeing that she wasn't going to answer her, Rogue sighed and looked back down at the open newspaper in her hands, letting the vast amount of accommodation advertisements take hold of her focus once again. Tabby walked up behind her, rubbing her hands nervously.

"Y'know you can stay at mine right. My Mom and Dad wouldn't mind." She spoke quietly. Rogue turned to face her and gave a small smile.

"Thanks. But ah need mah independence . . ."

" . . . and you need to live by your own rules, I know." Tabby finished for her and smiled in return. At that moment, Rogue couldn't help but feel that she had found a real friend in Tabitha Smith.

"But if you ever need anywhere to stay, you know where to go right?" Rogue nodded wordlessly. At that Tabby lunged at her and hugged her. Rogue stiffened at the unexpected show of affection, but putting down the newspaper, returned the gesture non-the less.

Their reconciliation was soon disturbed though by the sound of the cafe door opening.

"Excuse moi, but is dere any chance of a coffee?" Rogue tensed instantly at the sound of the voice.

Her sudden uneasiness did not go unnoticed by Tabby, who let go of her friend and bit her lip firmly when she saw the look of complete shock written all over her friends face. Knowing instantly that Rogue knew this man, whoever he was, she began to back away.

"I'll let you get this one" Tabby tried not to burst into a fit of laughter when she noticed Rogue glare at her dangerously and quickly backed through the kitchen door. Rogue watched her go and then turned slowly to face her nemesis.

Taking in his appearance of faded jeans, black t-shirt with the long tan trench coat and dishevelled hair - she groaned inwardly, it didn't matter that it looked like he hadn't shaved in several days - he still looked hot. Rogue took a deep breath and looked up at him.

"Can ah help ya?" Remy smirked at her blasé attitude and leaned forward on the counter.

"Un café sil vous plait" He repeated huskily noticing a slight pinkness showing on her cheeks. Rogue tried to keep up her nonchalant front, but it was proving more than difficult with the way he was watching her.

"That'll be two-fifty please". He gave her the correct change and placed it in her awaiting hand.

"Thanks, take a seat an' ah'll bring it over ta ya" She muttered and turned away swiftly to make up his coffee. Instead of following her instruction, Remy decided to stay at the counter, knowing it would probably annoy her. He looked around the cafe while he was waiting.

He had purposely come here, seeming as she had told him where she worked a week ago - he had decided that maybe it was time for a little visit. Sighing in boredom, he looked back around at Rogue who was waiting patiently for the water to heat up in the coffee machine.

Even in an apron, with her hair tied back untidily and heavy make-up adorning her face there was still an almost silent cry of seductiveness coming from her, like there had been at the club the night they had met.

Remy looked away from her and over at the open newspaper sprawled open on the other side of the counter. Reaching over curiously, he pulled the newspaper toward him and frowned as he read the advertisements, not noticing Rogue walking towards him and pushing a mug of steaming coffee toward him knocking him out of his reverie.

He smirked at her and took the coffee. Rogue scowled at him and pulled the newspaper back before sitting back up on the back counter once again and reading through the advertisements. Remy watched her and made no move to go, instead just simply observing her whilst drinking his coffee.

Rogue could feel him watching her 'Now ah remember why ah didn't want ta see that Cajun again' she thought angrily. Finally, after a few minutes and neither making any move of confrontation, Rogue glared over at him.

"What?" She asked irritably. Remy grinned at her conduct, only infuriating her more.

"Nothin'. Just dat I'd be happy t'have y'stay with me again chére" He replied lewdly. Rogue felt her blood boil; she hated being the source of entertainment for anyone, let alone him.

"Ah would rather live in a sewer than stay with ya again Cajun!" She retorted sharply, trying to keep her voice down.

"Dats a shame p'tite, b'cause I t'ink we could have a lot of fun". He continued to smirk as he watched her go from slightly irritated to ready to explode.

It was obvious to him now that his flirting with her made her angry, only he was enjoying it. He waited for another angry reply but instead received a deadly glare, before she simply jumped off the counter she was sat on and stormed into the kitchen. Remy chuckled, almost proudly and made his way over to a corner booth in the near enough empty establishment.

A few minutes passed, before Rogue exited the kitchen - this time with a mid-length black coat thrown on - and headed straight for the exit - completely ignoring Remy, whom she knew was still watching her. She walked through the cafe quickly, opened the door and stepped out into the street, shivering instantly as the rain beat harshly upon her. Reaching down, she zipped up her coat and pulled the hood over her head. Shoving her hands in her pockets she began to walk down the dark, vacant street.

Remy watched her from his seat inside the warm cafe. Gulping down the rest of his drink he stood up hastily and exited the cafe. Stepping outside he spotted her retreating figure and began walking briskly to catch up with her. Rogue continued to meander, seemingly oblivious of everything around her. 'Why does he make meh so angry? Gahd yoah such a fool, why did ya ever bother bein' nahce ta him?' she thought vehemently.

"Goin' anywhere interestin' chérie?" Remy asked, falling in-step alongside her. Rogue groaned inwardly 'Why meh' kept repeating itself in her head.

"Ah'm goin' home, so leave meh alone swamp rat," She answered without bothering to look at him and continued walking.

"So we gonna start usin' pet names. D'ough I wouldn't call 'swamp rat' exactly affectionate" Remy pondered aloud, knowing it would irritate Rogue.

"Yeah well it suits ya and it ain't s'posed ta be a pet name" She spat out fervently. Remy smirked at her insult deciding to push it further.

"Whatever y'say mon river rat" he teased, not expecting her to whirl around to face him angrily.

"Look, ah don't know what th' hell ya want but ah've got four days ta fahnd somewheah ta live an' ah don't need any o'this shit from ya! So why don't ya just leave meh alone!" She screamed furiously at him before instantly turning again and storming away.

Remy stood in shock and could only watch her walk out further into the darkness. Snapping out of the momentarily state of disbelief he was thrown into, Remy began to give chase to Rogue, easily catching her up.

Hearing him behind her this time, Rogue took several deep breaths in preparation for whatever he was going to say next, knowing it would probably anger her no matter what it was.

"Rogue?" Remy began warily. She gave no sign of acknowledgment, but just kept on walking. Remy grimaced internally.

"Look, I'm sorry . . . I didn't mean to make you that angry, I was just playin' wit' y" Still no answer from the girl beside him. Remy sighed and ran a hand through his hair, fed up with the silence he jumped in front of her and made her stop by placing his hands firmly on her shoulders, preventing her from simply walking around him. Rogue looked up at him, eyes ablaze.

"I really am sorry Rogue" He stared intently at her. Seeing that he meant what he was saying, Rogue's face softened and she visibly relaxed. Realising that she didn't really want to be mad at him, she looked at the ground a little lost for words.

"Ah'm sorry too. Ah don't really wanna be angry at ya" she replied tiredly. Remy smiled and let her go. They continued walking in silence before Rogue looked over at him.

"Are ya stalking me or somethin'?" Remy looked over at her thinking that she was angry again, but was surprised to find her smiling.

"Yeah, I'm obsessed wit' y. Naw, I'm goin' dis way anyway" Rogue nodded in response. They continued walking for a while longer until they reached the now familiar exterior of the hostel Rogue was residing in.

Rogue smiled timidly and said a simple 'bye' and began to walk towards the entrance. Reacting promptly, Remy grabbed her hand and pulled her back.

"Look, you'll probably t'ink I'm a perv for sayin' dis but . . .if y' need somewhere t' stay deres a spare room at mine" He muttered.

"Thanks Remy. But ah don't think ah'll do yoah bachelor lifestyle any good" She replied, smiling a bit more confidently. Remy chuckled at her comment.

"It'd be good t'hav someone clean th' place up every now an' again an' I'd get rent money" he joked back. After some more thought, Remy looked back at her, still not letting go of her hand.

"Seriously d'ough, y' t'ink 'bout it Rogue". Rogue looked up at him and gave a small smile of gratitude, to which Remy returned tenderly. 'M' defiantly goin' soft' he thought light-heartedly to himself.

"Ah will. Bye Remy" She spoke softly and stepped away quietly as he let go of her hand and them turned and walked through the hostel doors. Remy looked on as she disappeared into the building and sighed, running a hand through his unkempt hair, he carried on walking into the dark street.


	6. Revelations

She sighed softly and reached over to the coffee table for the remote. 'Why is it whenevah ya watch TV, theah's nevah anythang on' she contemplated absent-mindedly. Switching through the channels, she finally stopped on a movie channel that was just about to start another film.

Shivering a little, Rogue pulled up the deep blue blanket around her shoulders and leaned back into the corner of the sofa a little more. The credits to the movie began to come up on the wide television screen and a strange gurgling sound emitted from the direction of her stomach beneath the thick blanket.

Rogue instinctively looked around the room for something to eat and finding nothing, got out of her comfy position and returned with a tub of Ben and Jerry's ice cream and a spoon. Settling back into her previous place she took a mouthful of the ice cream and proceeded to savor the delicious taste of vanilla and cookie dough. It wasn't often that she got to relax like this - recently Tabby had been dragging her out to different clubs, bars and other places near enough every night she wasn't working.

Rogue, didn't mind and had it been anyone else - they would have taken the hint from Rogue's constant scowling and declines of going out, but not Tabitha. Rogue smiled at the thought of Tabby literally dragging her out against her will the other night, the girl was persistent if nothing else.

She had lived in the apartment for near enough a month now and Rogue certainly couldn't complain. She had her freedom and her space, especially since Remy was hardly ever about. Sure she would see him in the afternoon if she finished work early and occasionally in the evening, but other than that he was always out doing something. It was ideal for Rogue really, although it did feel kind of strange to be living in the same apartment with someone and only seen them a few times a week.

She had decided to take Remy up on his offer 'temporarily', after the elderly owners of the hostel she had been staying at had finally retired. 'Ah git ta lead mah lahfe and he git's ta lead his, what more could ah want?' she often found herself asking that question and there was never an answer to exactly what more she could want, but it was always playing in the back of her mind.

Rogue glanced up at the clock on the wall - it was nearing two in the morning. She looked back at the television screen indecisively, 'Should ah go back ta bed an' lay theah starin' at th' ceiling or stay heah an' watch some borin' movie'. Deciding on the latter, she placed the remaining ice cream on the coffee table and settled herself into the warmth of the blanket. For some reason, she just could not sleep and the idea of studying the walls while trying to welcome it did not appeal to her.

Rogue was just about getting into the movie when the front door opened and her elusive house mate entered, completely dressed in black with the usual trench coat thrown over the top and carrying a dark colored bag. Remy looked over at Rogue and gave her the customary smirk before disappearing into his room.

Rogue turned her attention back to the television screen, not in the least surprised that he had just come in at two in the morning and not expecting Remy to return minutes later and plonk himself in the seat next to her.

"What y' watchin'?" he asked indifferently.

"Ah dunno, some movie with Jean Claude Van Damme in it" She replied and looked over to see a reaction, the only one being that of Remy staring blankly at the screen. Rogue scrutinized his appearance - he was still dressed in all black, but without the favored trench coat. His hair was still messed up and more windswept looking than usual and a dark five o'clock shadow was apparent on his jaw 'And how he still looks good, ah dunno?' she queried herself.

Without warning, the object of her interest turned his head in her direction and she quickly turned her own back in the direction of the television. Remy smirked to himself at her naivety, full well knowing that she had been staring at him 'Not dat you ain't used t' it homme' he thought arrogantly to himself.

"So what y' been up t' chérie?" he asked, deliberately staring at her profile. Rogue could feel his gaze and tried desperately to keep the blush that was threatening to show, away.

"Workin' mostly and out a few tahmes. How bout ya?" She replied, still keeping her attention focused on the movie. Remy inwardly groaned. He couldn't tell her what he was really doing and he couldn't help but feel a pang of protectiveness towards the girl beside him. Remy had to admit it to himself, no matter how many times he tried to deny it - there was something there between him and Rogue. He cared about her, simple as that - despite the fact that he knew so little about her. It was obvious to him now, at first he had just tried to push the feeling down, but now he couldn't - especially with her living with him. He sighed softly and looked back at the television.

"Jus' de usual" he muttered resignedly. Rogue just accepted the answer, sure she wanted to know more about him - what he liked, his favorite color, his job - but she felt that she had no right to pry into his life, knowing that if she did that - he would probably want to know about her in return and that was something she just wasn't willing to give, particularly because she wanted to forget her old life and move on.

They sat there for a while longer in a comfortable silence, until there was a discreet knock at the door. Remy sighed loudly and instantly got up. Rogue watched in confusion as Remy made his way over to the door and let in another man just a little shorter than Remy, with darker hair and a small goatee. He was dressed in black just as Remy was, but was wearing a dark jacket instead of a trench coat. Remy walked back into the room, the other man closing the door and following.

"Rogue, dis is Mon frère, Henry" Remy introduced them and walked away to his room again. Rogue gave a small smile and a quiet 'Hi'.

"Bonjour" Henry replied courteously. He looked at her uncertainly before Remy returned and led him into the kitchen. Rogue watched them leave, a little put-off at the way Henry had been looking at her.

"Y' have it Remy?" She heard Henry ask in a hushed whisper, being that they had left the door open to the kitchen, she could hear them whispering to each other. 'Ah shouldn't be listenin' they obviously don't want meh ta heah'. She tried to keep her attention on the film but couldn't help but pick up what they were saying.

"Oui" Remy answered.

"Père will be pleased. Who is de fille?"

"She just stayin' here for a while. Not'in' t' worry 'bout, she don't know anyt'ing" She heard Remy sigh tiredly, their conversation quickly turning entirely into French. Her ears strained, trying to pick out the quickly spoken words from her limited vocabulary of the language.

"You know what I mean Remy. If père or Belladonna find out, your in deep shit" Her eyebrows knitted in confusion as she tried to figure out what Henry was saying.

"Don't remind me 'bout Belle. Dere's not'ing goin' on wit' Rogue, she's just a friend" Remy muttered annoyed.

"Don't be an ass, she can hear everything we're saying. I don't trust her, she could be an assassin" Henry was obviously on edge. Remy gave a bitter laugh.

"She ain't no assassin Henry, she jus' needed somewhere t' stay." Rogue swiftly turned her head towards the kitchen and glared at the word she did recognize.'Assassin! Oh yeah ah forgot ah kept mah collection o' guns n' samurai swords under mah mattress' she thought sarcastically.

"You hardly know her Remy! Père wants to see you about the wedding – you know you have to go through with it". She heard Remy groan in annoyance.

"I don't see why I should. I don't love her" Remy said.

"I know you don't. But its for the good of the guilds " Henry replied a little calmer.

"I know. Its jus' Belle's an assassin, I'm a t'ief. I don't t'ink it'll stop de fightin'". Rogue sat up in surprise. 'Did Remy just say he was a thief an' who's Belle? This can't be rahte!'. Henry sighed in contemplation.

"Y' don't know dat Remy, it might work. Y' owe it t' pére t' try. Y'll come t' de house tomorrow right?"

"Oui. I'll go" She heard Remy mutter wearily. At that, Henry exited the kitchen and headed towards the front door. Rogue swiftly turned round to face the television again.

"Au revoir Rogue" he said as he walked passed. She noticed that he was now carrying the dark bag Remy had brought in.

"Bye" she replied. Rogue sat back in the sofa deep in thought. Remy was a thief, no that couldn't be right - or could it. He'd never actually told her what he did for a living and who was Belle?. Rogue couldn't help but shudder a little at the name.

"Y' cold?" Rogue jumped visibly at the sound of Remy's voice, she shook her head as a no and watched from the corner of her eye as he sat down next to her again. He smirked at her as he took his seat. Rogue studied him carefully, noting every inch of his face.

"What did yoah brother want?" She asked cautiously. Remy showed no sign of tensing up or hesitation.

"Jus' t' borrow somet'in'. Family stuff" It was a reasonable answer, she couldn't fault that. 'Maybe ah did heah wrong' she thought with a sigh.

"Is he always so grouchy?" Remy laughed at her comment.

"Oui, He's jus' like y'" He replied with a smirk. His mood completely changed.

"Huh, funny!" and with that, she hid him leaned over and hit him over the head with her hand.

"Ow!" He moaned and rubbed his head, feigning injury. Rogue simply smirked in victory and turned back to the film. Seeing that she wasn't taking the bait, Remy suddenly reached over and began tickling her stomach through the blanket. Rogue kicked out in defence and shock. Wriggling and laughing uncontrollably, she tried yelling for him to stop but he wasn't giving in.

"Say uncle?" Remy asked through laughing at Rogue's uncharacteristic behaviour from the tickling.

"Un - cle" she cried. Remy let her up, now with a victorious smirk plastered on his face. Rogue sat back up and leaned back into the sofa, worn-out.

* * *

They carried on watching the film until the end credits started traveling up the screen. Rogue yawned and stretched her arms up, looking up at the clock and seeing that it was nearly four in the morning she decided to have another try at sleep.

A slight movement made her look at the person beside her. Rogue smiled a little at the sleeping face of Remy LeBeau, which was instantly replaced by a frown as she remembered what she had heard earlier on. She mentally scolded herself for being so inquisitive and decided that it wasn't her place to judge, but she needed answers. Moving as quietly as she could, Rogue slipped off the sofa and stood, watching him sleep. He looked so peaceful, 'Looks almost lahke he hasn't got his mahnd in th' gutter most of th' tahme' she smirked the thought. Not having the heart to wake him, she simply placed the blanket over him gently.

"Goodnight Remy" she whispered tenderly and moved away quietly to her room. Questions could wait until tomorrow.


	7. Problems

The stark light of the morning sun shone vibrantly through the unclosed window and directly into the sleeping eyes of Remy LeBeau. Groaning at the unwelcome intrusion of morning sunshine, he opened his eyes slowly, vainly attempting to shield the light from shining into his eyes with his hand.

Vaguely remembering where he was and how he came to falling asleep on the sofa, Remy looked up from the heap of blue blanket that had somehow gathered itself around his chest - for the girl he assumed he had fallen asleep next to, but was disappointed to find he was sprawled out on the sofa alone.

Flopping back into the cushions and closing his eyes again, he thought back to the early hours of the morning when he and Henry had been talking in the kitchen. It was something that kept him awake at night and invaded his thoughts about ninety-nine percent of the day - the thought of getting married was one thing to worry about, but to an assassin who was the daughter of one of the most dangerous families in North America - it was almost unbearable.

Remy sighed resignedly, nothing would be solved lying around - he needed to get up. Glancing up at the clock on the wall he noted that it was now almost mid day and it would soon be time to meet his father for more worthless and irritating talk over the impending wedding, which would be sure to fail in its attempts to bring peace between the guilds.

Shifting his position in the sofa he finally managed to haul himself out of the comfortable seat and stretched lazily before meandering a little stiffly into the brightly lit kitchen. Squinting his eyes a little against the rays of sunlight invading the small space he grabbed a glass from the draining board by the sink and poured himself a glass of orange juice.

Downing it slowly, he sauntered over to the window and took in the busy movement of the street below. What seemed like hundreds of people making their way to various destinations filled the view from the kitchen window. Remy sighed softly at the sight of them - it was so easy for him to pick out the hopeless tourists wandering through the street, desperately trying to look as though they knew where they were going and what they were doing, but somehow still managing to look completely lost and out of place.

Most other people probably wouldn't have noticed this but Remy did, 'Growing up on th' streets teaches y' a few t'ings' he thought ruefully. He often wandered how his life would have turned out if things hadn't happened the way they had, 'Prob'ly be some drunk livin' in a cardboard box' raised a smirk on his face. He didn't know, but it didn't matter - he had a home and a family and that was more than a lot of people would ever have, he was grateful and appreciative - he just wished that some things in his life had not transpired - such as the imminent wedding looming on the horizon.

Realizing that he had finished his juice, Remy washed it under some water and left it on the draining board to dry. Deciding not to waste anymore time on thinking about what could have happened and choosing to focus solely on what would be happening, he made his way casually - if not a little hesitantly - to the bathroom.

Emerging twenty minutes later onto the hectic road outside of the apartment, Remy tucked his hands in the pockets of his much-favored trench coat and joined the masses of people in their journey to their countless destinations. Passing a few blocks, Remy wondered idly about making a deliberate detour to bypass the café Rogue worked in to see if she was there. He had assumed before he left the apartment that she had gone to work seeming as she was nowhere to be seen. ' Merde! Y' be turnin' int' a stalker' he thought to himself with his customary smirk. But knowing that his appearance at her workplace would only make her mad deterred him.

A few blocks later, Remy found himself standing before the front doors to a very sophisticated, elegant and all too familiar mansion in the Garden district. Dropping his head, he reached unenthusiastically for the small, rounded buzzer situated on the wall beside the door.

Subconsciously, Remy hoped that maybe nobody was in and he could just leave until his brother or one of his numerous cousins were sent to pester him into meeting with his father again. It wasn't that he hated his father or his family, he just didn't want to have anything to do with the approaching disaster that was to be this wedding - unfortunately, he just happened to be right in the center of it all.

Alas, his wishes were not to be and the dark and intricately designed door was opened to reveal a short, plump, darkly-skinned woman dressed in a colorful dress that probably comprised every color of the rainbow on one stretch of fabric with a simple cooking apron over the top.

"Remy, m'boy - wher've y'been". The woman cried as she flung her arms around his neck, pulling him into a tight hug. Remy chuckled lightly at his tante Mattie's over-zealous reaction to his appearance and returned the embrace.

"Jus' t'ought i'd drop by". He replied. ' Dieu, I t'ink she's gonna crush m'bones' was the real thought going through his head.

Mattie instantly dropped her arms and placed them on her hips. Stepping back, she looked up at the grown man she had cared for through childhood and pulled her most menacing glare possible.

"What do y'mean y' jus' t'ought y'd drop by. Y'could have been dead f' all we knew" she scolded with intent. Remy opened his mouth to protest but was cut off by Mattie dragging him into the foyer and beckoning him to follow her into the richly decorated house.

"Y' pére in th' office. He's been dere f' days now waitin' f' y' to show up". Remy looked at her incredulously, biting back a remark at his fathers seemingly lack of life other than the running of the guild and instead continued to walk beside Mattie to their destination at the end of the hall. They stopped a few feet before the door where Mattie gave Remy another hug and left without another word. Remy faced the door and raised his fist to tap lightly on the door. It was now or never.

"Come in". Was heard and Remy turned the handle of the door slowly and walked into the period and expensively decorated office. His father sat directly in front of him behind a deep, French renaissance style desk leaning back into a plush, green leather armchair.

"Bonjour Remy. Long time no see" His father's authoritative voice easily broke every new confidence that Remy had gained before meeting with him.

"Bonjour Père" he answered simply and walked the few steps over to one of another green leather armchairs situated in front of his father's desk.

"So, how've y' been Remy. We hardly see y' these days" His father began. Knowing full well that if he wanted his sons co-operation he would have to tread carefully.

"Ok". Was the effortless reply. A few minutes of silence ensued between the two - Remy diverting his attention to what was going on outside of the magnificent bay window that covered an entire wall, while his father studied his youngest son slouched in the antique chair before him like a disobedient teenager. The soft squeaking sound of the chair his father was sitting in disturbed Remy's trance and he watched as his father made his way into his line of view - directly in front of the window.

"Now Remy, I know y' been avoidin' me but we have t' talk about dis sooner or later. It's goin' t' happen whether y' want it to or not" he began. Remy looked away, refusing to make eye contact. He heard his father sigh in exhaustion.

"Look, I know y' don't want t' do dis mon fils and I wish y' didn't have to - but if peace is ever goin' t' happen between th' guilds then dis is th' way forward." Remy glanced up at his father in disbelief.

How could his father stand there and tell him to throw his life away like this. Remy tried not to get angry with his father, but it was becoming increasingly difficult.

"What exactly did y' want t' talk t'me about?" he asked jadedly.

"Th' weddin's in four weeks time. I jus' t'ought dat considerin' y're de groom y' might want t' know de details" his father replied humorously and handed him a few sheets of paper before sitting back into the green armchair behind the desk and sinking back into the comfortable folds of the leather.

Remy simply glanced over the information displayed on the A4 pieces of paper and looked up at his father.

"Is dat all y' wanted t' see me for?". Remy waited for an answer but seeing that he wasn't going to get one, stood abruptly shoving the information on his wedding into one of the many pockets in his trench coat and turned hastily to the door. Just as he was about to turn the handle of the door he heard his fathers voice once again.

"Henri told me 'bout de girl stayin' wit' y'". Remy remained as he was, only moving his head ever so slightly to allow his father to hear what he was saying.

"I already told him she ain't not'ing t' worry 'bout" he replied in a low, exasperated voice.

"I know an' I trust y' Remy. But I t'ink y' know what I mean" Remy bowed his head slightly. How he wished all this wasn't happening.

"Oui, I know what y' mean, but dere's not'in' goin' on" he answered quietly.

"Jus' make sure not'ing does mon fils" His father admonished. Remy sighed loudly and turned the handle of the door, he needed to get out of here. He felt like he had a ton of bricks resting on his shoulders and being in this grand house wasn't helping.

Walking soundlessly through the halls to the front door, Remy managed to avoid any more meetings with family members and succeeded in making it out of the front door. He needed a drink and fast.

* * *

Remy stumbled through the door and cursed as he knocked over the lamp on the sideboard. Refusing to pick the object up he merely stepped over it, slamming the door shut as he did. 'Dieu, maybe y' shouldn't have had all dose bourbons homme' he thought regretfully as he raised a hand to his head in an attempt to stop it from feeling like a wild animal was tearing his brain apart with its teeth.

Staggering a little, he made his way to one of the sofas and collapsed unceremoniously down onto it. His thoughts drifted immediately to the foreboding event that would ruin his life in just a few weeks. Groaning in frustration he lay there for what seemed like just a few minutes, but was in fact an hour and a half, thoughts and situations turning over and over in his brain until the very unattractive sound of his stomach rumbling threw him back into full consciousness.

Sitting up and feeling disappointingly sober again, he ran his fingers through his hair deciding that pizza was probably his best bet. Getting up he dragged himself over to his house mates bedroom door and knocked, knowing that she didn't sleep well and might fancy some pizza even if it was late.

The door opened slightly as Remy knocked taking him a little by surprise. Moving his head a little so that he could see through the gap between the door and the door frame, he searched the dark room for any sign of Rogue.

"Rogue?" he called diffidently, fully aware that she could be asleep. Hearing no answer he shut the door quietly and walked over to the front door, stopping as he reached the fallen lamp that he had knocked over when he came in. Sighing, he picked the lamp up and placed it carefully on the sideboard from where it had fallen.

Stepping back he noticed a folded piece of paper sat further along the shelf and curiosity getting the better of him, reached for it and opened it cautiously. His eyebrows knitting in confusion - almost as quickly as he had picked the letter up, had he thrown it down and marched over to his house mates door.

"Rogue? Chérie y' in dere" he called sounding a little more than unsure. Once again hearing no answer, he boldly opened the door and switched on the light. His eyes widened at the sight of drawers and cabinet doors having been thrown open in haste and emptied of their contents. 'Merde' was the only word he could fathom to sum up what he was seeing as he turned rapidly and ran out of the apartment.


	8. Family

Rogue pushed her way through the enormous, crushing crowds that filled Penn Station, New York. Her hair felt dank and stuck to her head uncomfortably, her shoulders and hips felt slow and sore and yet none of that seemed to matter to the pale-faced girl struggling through the torrents of people in one of the greatest cities in the world.

Rogue had one objective in mind, to get to her brother. He needed her now and she could not ignore the churning of her stomach in anticipation of seeing him again and that of the immeasurable guilt she had felt all the way from New Orleans. The letter that she had received, just the other morning had shocked her to say the least when she realized it was from her mother.

Rogue's initial thought had been how had her mother found her, but as she read on through the letter she discovered that her younger brother Kurt was the one that needed the concern. He had, in her mother's words - become unruly after Rogue's sudden departure and had ended up in hospital before recently being sent up to a specialist doctor in Westchester, New York - which was exactly where Rogue was headed for.

She finally made it outside of the station and ignoring the vast and awe-inspiring architecture of the the Big Apple, waited in line for a taxi. To Rogue, it seemed as though time were of the essence and the sooner she could see Kurt, the less anxious and stressed she would feel. 'It's mah fault, if ah hadn't of left, Kurt wouldn't be in this mess now' was all that kept replaying over and over through her mind.

Eventually getting into a taxi and ordering the driver to take her to the address in Westchester as quickly as possible, Rogue stared vacantly out of the window and watched as the scenery altered from intriguing sky scrapers and hundreds of city dwellers, dodging they're way through the concrete streets - to contrastingly plain over-grown fields.

Her mind never letting up on seeing her brother again and his reaction to her sudden appearance. She thought back to that earth-shattering morning a few days ago - she had woken up after a restless night, taken a shower and dressed, had some breakfast and had not at any point managed to wake up her dead-to-the-world house mate slumbering on the sofa where she had left him the night before.

After that, she remembered picking up the single letter laying on the floor and was about to simply throw it onto the side table and rush off to work when realizing that it was a hand-written letter to her. With a little hesitation she had opened the envelope and read a brief letter from her mother about what had happened to Kurt and no sooner had she finished reading, Rogue had hastily packed a few clothes and essentials in a backpack, written a quick note to Remy and headed for the train station. Nothing had mattered more than the fact that Kurt needed her and nothing would stand in her way in getting to him.

About an hour later, the taxi-cab turned onto a tree lined street and rows of large, expensive houses that seemed to get bigger as the road went on until the car finally pulled up to a large set of exquisitely decorated, black iron gates. Rogue barely noticed where she was until the sound of the drivers voice talking into the intercom on the wall requesting entry through the imposing gateway.

After a few seconds the gates opened slowly and the cab drove what seemed like a mile up to the grand entrance. Rogue looked out of the window at the large Victorian mansion, if it had been any other occasion she would have been in awe, but Rogue was more nervous about seeing Kurt than how spectacular the mansion was.

After paying the taxi-driver, Rogue simply stood before the grand house taking slow, deep breaths, building up the courage to press the bell by the door and face whatever state her brother was in.

Eventually making her way up the few steps to the door she pressed the buzzer twice and took a step back and waited anxiously. Nothing happened, 'come on!' she thought impatiently. Finally after a few minutes the door opened and a young man with light brown hair, wearing a blue sweater, khakis and the strangest pair of red tinted glasses she had ever seen, stood before her.

"Hi. Can I help you?" Rogue stammered for a second, not knowing what to say.

"Uh, yeah. Ah came ta see mah brother. Kurt Darkholme?" The man looked her over warily, Rogue realizing what he was doing instantly spoke up.

"Ah'm his sistah, Rogue. Ah only jus' found out he was heah a few days ago an' ah'd really lahke ta see him. Please" The latter spoken with a pleading tone. Rogue was beginning to feel like she had been led on a wild goose chase until the man smiled warmly and opened the door fully to let her in. Rogue entered the large foyer and turned to face the man who had let her in.

"Sorry about that, I didn't mean to be rude but we have to be careful about visitors. My name is Scott Summers by the way, I work here," he said as he held out his hand. Rogue simply smiled politely and shook his hand.

"I'll take you to Professor Xavier, he likes to meet all visitors before they see the patients" Scott continued to jabber on as he led her through a series of oak paneled corridors until they reached an impossibly large door. Scott knocked twice and hearing a barely audible 'come in' opened the door and beckoned Rogue to follow.

To say she felt intimidated was an understatement. Rogue stared wide-eyed at the huge office and scanned the entire room of its amazing architecture and antique furniture before finally resting her eyes on a bald headed man sat behind an abnormally large desk. The man smiled and Rogue gave a shy smile in return before walking further towards the desk.

"Please have a seat Miss Darkholme," the man said as he gestured towards one of the ornate chairs in front of the desk. Scott left the room as Rogue seated herself in one of the chairs.

"I am Charles Xavier, I run the institution here and I hear from Mr Summers that you are here to see Kurt?" Rogue shuddered at the term 'institution', but realized there wasn't really any other way of describing the place.

"Yeah, he's mah brother". The professor nodded and moved as if on air from around the desk, revealing only his waist upwards, the rest of his body encased in a very, strange looking wheelchair of sorts. Coming to a stop a few inches in front of her, the professor held out his hand, which Rogue accepted politely. He examined the girl in front of him, there was very little resemblance to Kurt Darkholme, but she was an attractive young woman. She looked like she had been traveling for days. Dark circles were beginning to form under her eyes and her clothes looked creased and in need of washing. To keep her waiting any longer would be cruel, she seemed quietly anxious to see her sibling.

"Well, it's very good of you to come and see him. Kurt informed us about you, however he did not state whether you would be visiting or not. Kurt has made a lot of progress since arriving here, but he still has a long way to go. His outbursts have become more controllable over the last week or so, but what is more worrying is his lack of communication. Whatever the circumstances were before he came here, obviously affected him enormously. I think perhaps seeing you may help tremendously in his recovery." Rogue looked at the man, trying to retain her shock. She had no idea what had happened to Kurt to make him end up here.

"Why is he heah?" She asked gently. The professor took hold of her hand and looked directly at her.  
"Kurt is here because he tried to kill himself. He took an overdose, though luckily he was found in time and taken to the hospital but on being discharged it was recommended that he get psychiatric help and so your mother brought him here". Rogue could only look on in disbelief as the words sunk in.

Kurt had tried to kill himself. Guilt tore at her insides, a lump grew steadily in her throat and at that moment all she wanted to do was be sick. The blood that flowed through her veins seemed to stop and she felt as though death had taken over her body. Charles Xavier observed this and tried his best to give a reassuring smile, but he knew that the news of a loved one attempting suicide wasn't exactly easy to hear.

"I will get somebody to take you up to him. He is much better, I an assure you" He said delicately after a few minutes. Rogue merely nodded mutely, a hole the size of Texas filled her stomach.

Ten minutes later, Rogue found herself stood in front of an oak door on the third floor of the Westchester mansion. Scott stood in front of her and opened the door to a blue room with a large window that looked over the enormous gardens of the estate.

"Hey Kurt, you have a visitor" He called, but there was no reply. Scott smiled at Rogue and stepped back to let Rogue enter the spacious room.

"I'll leave you two to catch up" and then mouthed to Rogue that he would be outside if she needed him. She nodded in return and looked on at the body on the bed, lying on its side facing the wall. Rogue took a few small steps forward and found herself struggling to say something.

"H. . hi Kurt" was all she could manage. There was deathly silence until the figure twisted ever so slowly in the direction of the voice.

The eyes of Kurt Darkholme instantly lit up at the sight of the young woman standing by the door.

"Rogue?" He asked in pure surprise. Rogue tried to give a warm smile, but wasn't sure what exactly this reaction meant.

"Oh my God, Rogue! Your here!" He leapt up and ran to her, embracing her with all the strength he had. Rogue was in complete shock before she finally hugged him back.

"Oh Rogue. I missed you so much, where have you been? I can't believe your here" Was all she could hear over from behind her as her younger brother harried her with questions, all the while never letting go of her. Rogue held on just as tight, trying to hold back the cascade of tears threatening to spill, she had to be strong.  
"Ah missed you too Kurt" and she held on to him all the more. Rogue knew she had a lot of explaining to do, but she had failed him. He was here because of her and she swore to herself there and then, that she would never fail him again.


	9. Reunion

She had been in Westchester for exactly twelve days, fourteen hours and seventeen minutes - not that the time was dragging, far from it in fact. If anything it hadn't been long enough and Rogue and Kurt were mercilessly torturing themselves by counting down the minutes until Rogue had to leave.

It had been a happy reunion, much to Rogue's relief and had even eased away some of the guilt that had been eating away at her inside. She had worried so much that Kurt would give her the cold shoulder and that she would be the cause of more pain for him, but how wrong could she have been.

If anything, Kurt's mood had been elevated erratically by her arrival and despite his fragile appearance he seemed more like himself to Rogue than he had done long before she had left their former home in Mississippi.

Due to the circumstances and the effect that Rogue's presence had on Kurt, Professor Xavier had granted her special permission to stay in the mansion. Rogue was eternally grateful to the kindly man and was determined not to let one pointless second pass during her stay.

They were currently sat beneath a very old chestnut tree with some of the other residents that Kurt had become friendly with. It was a beautiful day, the sun was high in the sky and not a cloud was evident, only a slight breeze disturbed the leaves of the trees around them. Rogue couldn't think of a seeing a more glorious day in her life, than the one she was seeing right before her. But it wasn't just the weather that made the day so wonderful, it was the combination of being in good company and not having to worry about anything, that made it all the more better.

"So what do you think Rogue?" came the sound of Kurt's voice, snapping Rogue out of her daydream. Her eyes instantly flitting to Kurt in surprise.

"Ah'm sorry, what?" Kurt snickered at his sister's pensive demeanor. He had never seen her so relaxed and unaware of what was going on around her, she seemed so free of emotional turmoil that he was beginning to feel that perhaps her running away had been a good thing for her. He had never been angry at her for leaving. Deep down, he knew it was something she obviously felt she had to do and at this moment, he could only be grateful that she had not forgotten him and had returned to him when he most needed her.

"Jeez Rogue! Are you on another planet today? We was talking about Kitty's boyfriend Lance and whether or not she should break up with him," He explained to her. Rogue slowly took what he said in and then turned her head to face the pretty girl sat on the other side of her brother.

"Why do ya want ta break up with him?" She asked the small-framed girl, trying to focus her attention solely on the conversation at hand.

"Well, we've been seeing each other for like a year now and I don't know, these last few months it's like I can't get hold of him and when I can he won't talk to me and it's like I have no idea what's going on with him. I mean, I know he's in Chicago and I'm in New York but if you really love someone then distance shouldn't get in the way right?" The girl asked, seeking the approval of her peers. Kurt giggled at Kitty's idealistic views on love causing the other girl to look at him indignantly.

"I'm sorry Kitty. But come on, you're in juvenile rehab. You're not exactly the most stable girl to date" Kurt explained. Kitty looked at him almost shocked at the insensitivity.

"Well I'm loads better now! Even the Professor said I could go home soon" she defended herself.

"If ya ask meh, ah think yoah better of without him. If he loves you then being heah shouldn't make any difference ta yoah relationship. Sorry Kit, but he sounds lahke a jerk" was Rogue's opinion, giving her a sorry smile to soften the blow.

"Yeah, I guess you guys are right" The girl agreed down-heartedly, crossing her legs and resting her elbows on her knees so that she could rest her head in her hands.

"Hey, don't stress about it Kitty. Like you said, at least your getting out of here soon. Man! I've got another two months to go yet," said the final person in their small group known as Bobby. Kitty gave him a small smile and continued to sit as before. A game of some sorts looked to be about to start in the area of grass in front of the mansion, directly in their line of view.

"Hey, You wanna go play Kurt?" Bobby asked with Kurt giving a short 'yeah' and running off with the other teen to join the game. Kitty and Rogue watched in silence as a game of classic touchdown football began.

"He really missed you, y' know" Kitty observed quietly. Rogue gave a small smile as she watched her younger brother running with the ball and then being tackled to the ground.

"Ah know. Ah'm kinda worried leavin' him again" she replied still not taking her eyes off Kurt. She felt Kitty scoot across the grass closer to her.

"I think he's gonna be okay, now that he knows where you are and I promise I'll look after him while your gone" the younger girl promised with a smile. Rogue looked at her and returned the smile warmly.

"So do you like want a soda or anything?" Kitty asked as she stood up. Rogue shook her head no and after promising that she would be back in a few minutes, Kitty walked off towards the mansion.

Rogue continued to watch the game ensuing on the grass in front of her. She thought back over the last twelve days, from her reunion with Kurt - how they had talked about their mother. The general feeling from the letter that Rogue had received regarding Kurt, led her to believe that her mother was no longer concerned over her welfare and she wasn't wrong. According to Kurt, very little was said about Rogue after she left and her mother hadn't even attempted to find her. The only reason she knew how to contact her was from the letter Rogue had written to Kurt in which she had a left a return address.

Rogue couldn't help but feel incredibly hurt, it was selfish on her part, she knew that. She had wanted out of her old life, out of her mother's life but the feeling of being cast aside so easily by her own parent was hurtful and sickening. For the first time in her life she felt truly alone, with no-one to fall back on - no-one to act as her safety net as most parents do for their children, Rogue realized that she was on her own now and that there was no turning back.

Deep in thought she failed to notice Kurt jogging towards her and collapsing on his back next to her, panting loudly. Rogue smiled at him in amusement as he lie there on the cool grass, arms spread out, sweating as though he had been running miles.

"Wh-what . . . hap . .penned . . to . . Kitty?" He asked between breaths.

"She went ta get a drink. Ah think she lahkes you" Rogue replied slyly. Kurt looked up at her confused.

"Who?" He asked curiously.

"Y'know the valley girl with th' biggest, sapphire lahke eyes in th' world" She teased, fluttering her eyes for effect and then having to stop herself from falling sideways onto the grass with her arm as her brother pushed her for embarrassing him.

"Whatever Rogue. What makes you say that?" He asked as he sat up.

"Hey what's going on?" Came the chirpy voice that instantly stopped Rogue from replying.

"Oh, uh . . . nothing" Was all Kurt could supply her with. Why did Rogue have to do that 'It must be some inbred rule in older sisters heads that they have to humiliate they're younger brothers" Kurt thought vehemently, though the thought quickly passed.

The afternoon passed quietly, the occasional chatter between Rogue, Kurt and Kitty filling the comfortable silence of the hours until eventually the time that had been dreaded all day arrived. The sight of Scott Summers walking over towards the small group of people under the chestnut tree was not a welcome one to Kurt and Rogue.

"Hey. So are you ready to go?" Scott asked as he arrived, directing the question at Rogue.

"Yeah" She replied gently as she, Kurt and Kitty stood up.

"Okay, I'll meet you outside the front" Scott told her and then turned and began retracing his steps.

Rogue and Kurt looked at each other, the familiar stinging of tears threatening to spill from her eyes once again. Kurt pulled her into a hug and they stood there for what seemed like minutes not uttering a single word.

"Oh shit Kurt, Ah'm gonna miss ya" Rogue squeezed out quietly so only Kurt could hear. He held her tighter.

"I'm gonna miss you too Rogue" He replied, similarly quiet.  
"Maybe ah shouldn't go" Rogue pondered aloud, feeling that perhaps her leaving would be all wrong. Kurt pulled back from her and looked her straight in the eye.

"No Rogue. You have to go. I'm going to be okay now, you have your own life to lead and once I'm outta here I'm going to come and see you in New Orleans and everything is going to be okay" He assured her firmly, receiving a feeble smile from Rogue, he let her go as Kitty stepped forward.

"It's been really nice meeting you Rogue, I hope we can like stay friends or something," The girl said as she gave Rogue a hug.

"Ah'd lahke that Kitty" Rogue replied before the other girl released her.

"And you like totally don't have to worry about Kurt, I'll make sure he stays in line" Kitty reassured her. The sound of a cars engine revving from afar startled them and the trio walked soundlessly across the grass, into the mansion and up to the main foyer where Rogue and Kurt embraced one last time before Rogue opened the large door and closed it behind her.

Sat in the passenger seat of Scott's red convertible driving slowly away, Rogue dared not turn her head back to the grand house behind her, case she began to cry. There was no need, this wasn't goodbye. Kurt would get better and they would be reunited properly, away from Westchester.

* * *

The Trip into New York City was silent save for Scott asking Rogue a few questions on how she was holding up and where she was going. Rogue answered politely as she watched the scenery change from rural to cityscape and the unnerving amount of people increasing. They arrived at the train station just an hour later and Scott being a gentleman, made sure Rogue got to the right platform.

"So are you going to be okay?" He asked carefully. Rogue nodded in reply.

"Yeah, ah'm gonna be fahne" She stated glumly.

"Don't worry about Kurt. We'll take care of him in Westchester, Professor Xavier has some of the best rehabilitation results in the country and I really don't think you know just how much you've helped Kurt by being here" Scott reassured her. At that moment the train arrived and Rogue and Scott said their goodbyes.

The train pulled slowly out of the station and Scott Summers face drifted into the distance as the vehicle picked up speed. The tall buildings and sky scrapers gave way to empty countryside and busy highways, the scenery always changing 'Jus' lahke life' Rogue reflected.

It was a long journey back to New Orleans, but at least one thing in her life was sorted. She felt confident that Kurt would get better, but she could only wonder in unison with the ever-changing landscape, what life had in store for her next.


	10. Homecoming

The flickering light hanging on the wall did nothing to help Rogue find the key in her bag. She was considering just tipping the damn thing upside down and emptying it of all its contents when her fingers felt the chunky, jagged metal of a an old brass door key. Pulling it out, she sighed with exasperation and then with some effort pushed the key as gently as she could into the keyhole.

She was hoping that Remy hadn't kicked her out while she had been gone, all she needed right now was some food, a hot shower and some sleep - finding that she had been evicted would not be the best homecoming. If she could even call this home.

Turning the key slowly and pushing the door open as gently as she could without causing too much of a ruckus, she entered the unlit and unusually tidy apartment. Nothing had changed, everything was very much as she had left it almost three weeks ago, albeit the cleanliness. Closing the door behind her, Rogue flicked on the light switch and checked the kitchen, but was relieved to find no one was there and decided that nobody was home.

Walking back over into the lounge area, she put her rucksack on the floor and went to hang up her coat. Upon doing that and turning around she began to walk over to the kitchen again when coming face to face with a blond haired woman, a little taller than herself. The woman let out a shriek, which even caused Rogue to flinch at the sound.

"Who th' hell are y' n what do y' want?" The woman accused shrilly, advancing aggressively towards her. Rogue stepped back in alarm and knocked over the table lamp on the side table. Bending down to pick it up, Rogue was about to explain when the oh-so familiar voice of Remy LeBeau announced his arrival.

"What's goin' on Belle?" He sounded tired and impatient. Walking into the open-plan room he immediately saw the cause of the commotion. Rogue looked up at him, their eyes meeting. Nothing was said, but Rogue felt like her heart was either going to stop or thump right out of her chest - she had never felt so scrutinized in her life. Remy felt much the same, but he didn't know whether to be happy that she was back or mad because she had disappeared without a trace.

The silence was deafening, both stood opposite each other neither wanting nor knowing what to say. They could have stayed that way for hours.

"Who th' hell is she Remy" Came the high-pitched, demanding voice of the blond woman standing beside Remy. He blinked at the sound of her voice and turned his gaze from Rogue to the taller woman.

"Dis is Rogue, she's staying here," He almost mouthed, only just about loud enough for Rogue to here. The blond changed her footing and crossed her arms over her chest indignantly, pouting her lips and gave him a 'you-had-better-not-be-lying' face.

"_Really? I thought she had gone?_" She replied in her native Cajun French, not letting up on her suspicion. Her use of the French language immediately brought the man beside her back to his senses.

"_Oui.__ But now she's back again. Hones'ly Belle, she's not'in' f' you t' worry about_" Remy soothed, placing his hands on the womans shoulders and rubbing them reassuringly. The woman looked up at him and half smiled.

"_Y' had bett'r not be lyin' t' me Remy LeBeau. Y' know who my __Père__ is, he would cut y' up into tiny little pieces an' nobody would b' able t' find dem_" She hissed softly into his ear. Rogue could only imagine what was being said as she observed the exchange silently, but she sure as hell didn't think it was anything sickly sweet being whispered into his ear, though she could not be sure as Remy simply smirked at whatever the blond had said to him, his long perfected poker face successfully hiding whatever he was thinking.

"_Don't I know it_" Was his only reply as the couple looked at each other, before Belle looked at Rogue.

"Well, are y' going' to introduce me Remy?" She asked bitterly with a twisted smirk adorning her otherwise perfect features.

"Rogue, dis is Belle. Mon Fiancé" He announced. Rogue noticed that there was no affection in the way he introduced his future wife, in fact on the whole, the interaction between the two didn't seem right.

"Hi" She replied looking back directly into the blond womans icy stare.

"Whatever, anyway I must be goin'. I'll call y' tomorrow Remy. Je vous aime" She said, before kissing him and sauntering past Rogue and out the front door. Rogue stared at the ground, not daring to look up at Remy again.

"So, your back again hein?" He questioned, watching her stare at the laminate flooring.

"Yeah. Ah'm sorry 'bout interrupting yoah . . . whatever y'were doin' " She finished lamely, still not looking at him. Remy smirked and shook his head softly in disbelief, she looked weary and in need of sleep though she didn't seem to be about to admit to it.

"Got y' note. Where y' been Rogue?" He probed starkly. Knowing that this probably wasn't the best time to be asking such a question. Rogue looked up then, her eyes blazed with anger - he knew what he was doing and he knew now wasn't the time, so why was he doing it? But all coherent thought seemed to disappear to the back of her mind as she glared.

"What's it ta you? Ah had ta go and ah went, but ah came back. It's not lahke ah know anything' bout you?" She was nearing tears again, but her yelling held them back. Her fists clenched at her side, she waited for an answer from the man before her. Remy said nothing, but his jaw clenched at her irate outburst and held her glare.

"Fahne" She almost whispered, grabbing her rucksack from the floor and storming past him to her room where she furiously pulled out a larger black bag and began throwing open draws and shoving whatever she had left behind the first time, into the bag.

"Oh yeah b'cause runnin's gonna solve all y' problems ain't it. Jus' tell me where y're gonna leave de note dis time so I don't hav' t' look fo' it" He shouted back with as much aversion before getting to her door and leaning against the door frame arms crossed.

"Well ah don't care what y' think it's got nothin' ta do with ya anyway" She screamed back, squeezing the last piece of clothing into her back, zipping it up and then heaving it over her shoulder before trying her best to storm to the front door without falling under the weight of the bag.

"Where y' going Rogue?" Remy asked as she passed him. Getting no reply he moved swiftly in front of her, blocking her exit.

"Ah'm leavin' so get outta' mah way" She spat back venomously. Her reply only made Remy move more resolutely between her and the door.

"Not in de state y're in" He received her glare well and held it, there was no way she was getting out of that door. Rogue knew it just as well, sure she could try and get out but it would be a hopeless attempt. Instead, she gave him one final heated glare before storming back to her room and slammed the door hard enough to cause windows to shatter.

Remy watched her go and released a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. ' Merde homme, that filles got a temper' he thought with an inward sigh. Running a hand through his hair he walked over onto one of the sofas and collapsed onto it, it was going to be a very long night.

Rogue lie very still on her bed. She had tried sleep and had not got a wink. Turning her head ever so slightly, so that she could see the radio alarm clock on the bedside table and noted that it was now nearly three-thirty in the morning. She had heard Remy go to his room a couple of hours ago, though she had been lying there a lot longer.

She watched the ceiling and tried to paint pictures with her mind using the shapes of the mottled plasterwork to make strange, dreamlike formations but even that didn't help. There was only one way she was going to get any sleep tonight and the only thing standing in her way was pride.

Pushing the covers from her body and stretching her legs over the side of the bed, she padded as silently as physically possible to the bedroom door, opened it and walked out into the open plan room. Quietly she made her way through the dark room over to Remy's bedroom door and stood in front of it hesitantly for what seemed like an age.

Her fist rested against the smooth, wooden door and she held her breath each time she thought she was ready to knock on it. What was holding her back, nothing but pride 'Jus' mah damn pride. It's not his fault, ah'm the one who should apologize' she thought rebuking herself. Taking one final gulp of air, she knocked gently on the wood and listened for any sign that he might be awake.

Nothing. Rogue frowned in disappointment and was about to retreat quietly back to her room.

"What do y' want Rogue?" sounded from behind the wooden door. For a second Rogue considered just walking away, but she figured she was here now - may as well get it over with. Cracking open the door ever so slowly, she crept into the room.

"Hi . . . um, sorry if ah woke ya" she mumbled, taking a step further into the room. She heard Remy move on the bed as if sitting up to hear her more clearly.

"I wasn't sleepin'" was the only reply, which Rogue took as a cue.

"Ah'm sorry ah shouted at ya, an' ah'm sorry ah left without tellin' ya, it's not yoah fault it's just . . ." Something like fear stopped her from carrying on.

Why was she so afraid of revealing a tiny little bit of herself, she realized there was no reason to be. Only the fear of being hurt, of rejection, of not being understood was stopping her. Remy stayed silent on the bed, he had sat up and was sitting sideways on the edge and could just about make out her figure in the darkness. He dared not say or do anything case it frightened her away and settled instead on waiting patiently for her open up on her own.

"Mah . . . mah brother's in an institution in New York . . . b. . b'cause he tried ta . . . kill himself an' it's mah fault!" The tears came then and Rogue shook violently, sobbing uncontrollably. Her hands flew to her face and she wanted to run away, but she was frozen to the spot, her legs felt like they were about to buckle beneath her and the more she tried to stop the tears and the shaking, the more quaking and uncontrollable she seemed to become.

Months of tears held back, years of hurt were flowing out of her and it didn't seem like they were about to stop anytime soon. She unexpectedly felt a pair of arms encircle her shoulders and she was brought close to someone, leaning her head against his chest - Rogue poured her heart out, for the first time in a very long while she finally let her emotions escape their prison. Remy simply held her as she cried, stroking her hair as she let finally let go.


	11. Daybreak

The glow of the morning sun peaked lazily over the city of New Orleans. The soft colors illuminating everything in sight in a warm haze and the rays of early light shone through the age-old, wrought iron work that was evidently consistent throughout the historic French Quarter and into the conventional sash windows of the apartments, houses and such situated within.

Remy LeBeau watched silently as the light crept into the room through the open balcony doors, the wrought iron work causing intricate shadows on the floor and walls of the room inside. He was mesmerized by it, captivated by the morning light that he had never stopped to observe before. Oh, he had seen many sunrises but had never truly watched one for the sheer purpose of it - and he wasn't disappointed. It was beautiful, one of those rare natural phenomenon's that were taken for granted on a regular basis, something that could enthrall you for hours if it lasted and stop the typical train of thoughts that normally never cease.

A slight movement beside him knocked him from his reverie, causing him to look away from the natural wonder happening outside to the source of the disturbance beside him. She stirred a little more and turned her head from the imminent light. He watched her softly, not wanting to disturb her. Her head lying against his arm, which was stretched, out behind her.

He had been here for hours, contently watching her as she had finally sobbed herself to sleep. This was a different side to the Rogue that he had not been witness to before and he highly doubted that many others had either. Not that he had found out much, only the discovery that a brother he had never knew existed had tried to do away with himself, that Rogue believed it was her fault and that she had spent the last couple of weeks with him in a juvenile rehabilitation center in Westchester, New York.

As if that wasn't enough to tip someone ordinarily so strong over the edge. He had no idea about her past, but whatever it was it was obviously something she wanted to forget and leave far behind her - he respected that, but whatever Rogue's past was - it wasn't going to let go of her, she needed to face up to it. Remy thought back to his past, not the most happiest of histories he had to admit - and now - now was strange. Here he was, lying on a bed with his arm wrapped around a girl he cared more about than he wanted to acknowledge and he was getting married in less than four days.

A frown now etched his previously relaxed guise as he remembered his duty to his family and he sighed despairingly. He didn't want to get married, sure perhaps in the future to somebody he loved more than life itself, he smiled at that 'It would hav' t' be dat t' get me t' go down de aisle on m' own accord' he thought ruefully to himself.

But right now, to a woman he barely knew, had nothing in common with, was the daughter of a Godfather like figure and a woman who he had to admit couldn't stand being in the same room with for too long was not exactly a good start to a lifetime meant to be filled with happiness and prosperity.

Looking back to the sleeping Rogue, his heart eased a little as he watched her slow, deep breaths and the aberrant serenity of her face as she slept. He idly thought how it was that people looked so tranquil in their sleep, how the troubles of the day could be brushed away by just relaxing the mind and drifting off to dream land.

A slight breeze drifted through the open balcony doors, making some distant wind chimes from across the street clang back and forth. Rogue opened her eyes gradually, twisting her head a little more from the sunlight, she opened her eyes wider and was startled when she realized where she was.

"Hey, feelin' better chérie?" Remy asked softly. Rogue visibly relaxed and sat up a little more as Remy removed his arm and sat up more himself. Rogue gave a small smile and nodded gently.

"Yeah. Ah must of fell asleep. Sorry" She apologized sheepishly.

"Pas un problème" They shared a smile before Rogue made to get up off the bed. Walking past Remy, she came to a halt and turned around and faced him again.

"Thank you" She said tentatively. Remy knew what she meant and smiled warmly as she turned to leave once more. On a whim he stood up suddenly and called out to her.

"So, y' wanna get some breakfast or somethin'?" Rogue looked back at him and nodded.

"Yeah, thaht would be nahce."

* * *

An hour later found them sitting in the outdoor seating area of a café facing onto Jackson Square. A fair-haired waitress placed their order of croissants and coffee on the table and smiled flirtatiously at Remy who in return smirked at her in the same manner, before she sauntered away, hips swaying. Rogue choked back a laugh as she watched Remy who then diverted his attention from the retreating waitress at the strange half laugh coming from his companion.

"Que?" He asked, unsure at whatever was amusing her. At this Rogue let out a laugh and tried not to choke on her croissant.

"Nothin'. Jus' you an' that waitress" She choked back another chortle and took a sip of her coffee. Remy smirked and leaned back in his chair.

"Jealous chére?" He questioned slyly. Rogue looked at him incredulously and took another mouthful of her drink.

"Tell meh Remy, doesn't it bother ya havin' women throw themselves at ya left, rahte and centah?" Remy smirked even more at her question and inclined forward dramatically, as if to tell her a secret.

"Here's da t'ing, hommes enjoy de attention" Rogue shook her head disbelievingly.

"It must do wondahs for yoah ego's huh?" She joked back. Remy chuckled at her comment, he didn't have a comeback ready for that one so instead took a sip of his cooling coffee.

"Come on Rogue. I' bet y' got em queuing up round de block" He replied, slightly curious as to how she would reply.

"Please! Besides yoah gettin' married remembah, yoah not meant ta be flirtin' with othah women" She snorted response, but was taken aback by Remy's sudden change of disposition and observed him quietly as he began stirring his coffee slowly, a grim line marring his handsome features. Though she could not see his eyes because of the dark sunglasses he was wearing, she was sure they would have displayed more of what he was thinking at that moment. Remy remained silent, continuing to stir his coffee aimlessly.

"Yoah not havin' second thought's already? Thaht ain't a good thing Rem" She asked carefully, trying to keep some humor in her voice. He didn't budge. Rogue sighed and fell back into her chair and began eating the rest of her croissant, watching people walk back and forth going about their business before her attention was drawn back to her cohort.

"Never got chance t' hav' second t'oughts" Remy began slowly, concentrating on the swirl of his coffee as he continued to stir. Receiving no reply, though knowing he had her full attention he continued.

"Me an' Belle hav' been engaged since we were kids" He finished. Hoping that he wouldn't have to reveal anymore, he had already said too much, 'Merde, why couldn't y' hav jus' kept y' big mouth shut LeBeau' he cursed himself silently. Rogue looked away from him, not knowing how to reply to what he had said. Several minutes passed, neither looking nor saying a thing to the other until Rogue decided she needed to know more.

"Gahd, thahts awful. Cain't ya jus' say ya don't want ta get married?" She asked, looking at him and lingering for a reply.

"It's . . . complicated" Was all he said. Remy tensed a little waiting for the 'Why?' but was relieved that she didn't ask.

"Well, ah guess Belle seem's . . . nahce, in a sadistic kinda way" She finished uncertainly, with a small, mischievous smile.

"Which Belle did y' meet exactly?" Remy joked back, noticing the distinct sound of impishness in the way she spoke. They shared a smile.

"Whens th' weddin'?" She asked inquisitively.

"Saturday" He answered despondently, the brief smile he had shared, now completely vanished. Rogue nodded silently. Remy looked away and watched the forming crowds, Rogue looked at him regretfully - it didn't seem fair that someone should have to get married to someone they didn't love, really Rogue strangely enough was intrigued as to why Remy was going through with this. To her, he didn't seem like the sort of person who followed rules and did as they were told.

Her thoughts immediately drifted back to that night weeks ago and to the conversation she had heard between Remy and his brother. 'Jus' as well ah didn't ask anythin' to personal, he probably would o' had ta kill meh' she thought sarcastically. Whatever his reasons for going through with this marriage, Rogue concluded that it went a lot deeper than what little information he had given her. At that, Remy unexpectedly looked around to her and Rogue abruptly averted her eyes from him. Remy smirked in amusement at her standoffish behavior.

"Y' seem more interested in dis marriage than I am" He quipped.

"Well it's kind of a big thing ta not talk about. But be mah guest ta change th' subject" She retorted, pretending to be completely oblivious to his witticism.

"I t'ink someone feels left out. Y' wanna go t' de weddin' Rogue?" He continued jibing. Rogue raised her eyes to him and tried to look as unenthusiastic as possible.

"Yeah, thaht would be a great ideah considerin' how well me an' Belle hit it off yestahday". She said unblinkingly. He snickered at the concept of Belle and Rogue being best buddies.

"She's like dat wit' everyone. Besides would be entertainin' fo' y' to watch me goin' t' my fate" He replied somewhat forlornly.

"Yeah ah guess thaht would make mah day, watchin' Louisiana's most populah ladies man walk down th' aisle and put his lahfe in th' hands o' fate. Ah think ah should be theah jus' ta make sure y' go through with it" Rogue countered drolly. Remy smirked at her humorous take on his impending marriage and thought 'How close t' de truth y'are chérie". Not a second after that thought did his cell phone begin to vibrate in his pocket. Pulling it out, he grimaced at the name he saw flashing on the screen.

"Speakin' o' de devil" He related jadedly before answering with a rehearsed 'hello'. Rogue assumed that it was Belle and kept quiet as he conversed on the cell, still unable to shake the feeling of how wrong this all seemed. Barely a minute had passed when she noticed Remy putting the phone back into his pocket.

"I hav' t' go petite," He sounded subdued. Rogue watched him soundlessly as he asked a passing waitress for their bill.

"It's gonna b' okay Remy" Rogue tried to sound confident, but found herself faltering a little. Remy gave a half smile, but said nothing as he pulled out his wallet.

"M' call" Was all he managed as he put a few notes down on the tray and stood up. Rogue followed suit and both walked out of the seating area and out towards one of the gateways into Jackson Square.

"Well ah suppose ah'll see ya latah" She attempted a goodbye but for some reason neither moved an inch. Remy looked up at her first and smiled as warmly as he could under the circumstances. He suddenly felt as though he wanted to run away, from Belle, from his family, even New Orleans - but not her. He watched her as she shuffled her feet and looked around, conceiving that she didn't know what to say.

Reaching up a hand tentatively, he gently pushed away a few strands of hair that had fallen in front of her face. Rogue froze, not out of fear or surprise - more like she wanted to savor the moment. The sweet sound of classic New Orleans jazz filled the air and for just a moment both felt as though they were the only two people in the world. Though the end of the song transported them directly back to reality immediately.

"Oui, y' will chérie" He replied with as much certainty as he could muster before slowly backing away, not turning around until her face had disappeared completely behind the sea of people surrounding Jackson Square.


	12. Matrimony

His reflection gazed back at him from the luxuriously carved wall mirror. Looking deeply into his own dark, mahogany eyes he was consumed by melancholic thoughts, unconsciously psyching himself up for what he was sure would be the beginning of the end. Even his stag night hadn't been all that enjoyable, though admittedly he could barely remember the first hour let alone the entire evening after the amount of alcohol he had consumed.

Remy sighed and went to run a hand through his hair but stopped before it came into contact, his Tante Mattie would go nuts if he messed up his hair again. He settled instead for playing with his cuff links that hadn't yet been fastened. Taking a step back, he looked the top half of his body over, 'Considerin' dis is de worst day o' y' life, y' don't scrub up t' bad LeBeau' he thought indolently to himself, noticing his Tante appear in the reflection behind him.

"Oh Remy, y' do look handsome. Belle is a very lucky woman" Complimented Mattie as she stood in the doorway. Remy turned to face her as she spoke and smiled the best he could. She walked up to him with the proudest grin and Remy couldn't help but feel ashamed that he wasn't as happy as he should be on this momentous day. Taking the cuff links out of his hand, Mattie began to fasten them as Remy watched her silently.

It was as though the time was ticking by slowly, but also much too fast. Finished with the cuff links, Mattie straightened his tux and brushed off the invisible dust from his arms and shoulders that only she could see. Stepping back, she held her hands together and smiled proudly, Remy stood up straight ready for inspection. No matter how old he was, his Tante always managed to have his complete respect.

"Y' look wonderful Remy" She praised him once more.

"Merci. Y' don't look too bad y'self" He replied, knowing he would probably end up with a smack over the head for his impudence. As he predicted, Mattie went to do so but stopped herself as he cowered a little and gave him a knowing smile.

"Well, well, well. Doesn't m' younger brot'er look all grown up" Said Henry LeBeau as he sauntered into the room with a satisfied smirk.

"Y' ready to go?" Henry asked putting a hand on his brother's shoulder and clasping it in tight reassurance. Remy nodded and took a deep breath.

"As ready as I'll ev'r be" He replied, faking yet another smile. Henry squeezed his shoulder once more before leaving. Mattie leaned up and gave him a kiss on the cheek and then also retreated leaving Remy alone once more. Looking into the mirror again, Remy tried to clear his mind of all sense. What was he so worried about, he was getting married to one of the most beautiful women on the planet and he was at the center of a peace treaty that would bring the end to a centuries-old war.

He was doing what he had been destined to do nearly his entire life. Sighing loudly and standing tall, Remy quietly nodded to himself and turned away from the mirror. If he thought about it anymore, he was likely to run and he didn't want to let his family down - it was time to do what needed to be done.

* * *

It was a flawlessly, sunny day with not a cloud in the sky and a just a slight breeze in the air to keep the humidity from feeling oppressing, 'Perfect day fo' a weddin' Rogue thought absent-mindlessly as she walked slowly up to the open church doors, adjusting the dress she had borrowed from Tabitha.

She had not planned on wearing a dress at all but after making the big mistake of telling Tabby about the occasion, the insanely, vivacious girl had pestered her constantly about wearing a dress she owned that would suit Rogue perfectly. Eventually she had grown tired of Tabby's non-stop twittering and had given into borrowing the admittedly, very flattering emerald green dress that had earned her a few wolf whistles on the way to the venue 'Gahd ah hate dresses' she thought obtusely as she neared the entrance.

Walking through the stone archway she was unexpectedly greeted by the familiar face of Henry LeBeau.

"Bonjour Rogue. I didn't know y'd be here?" He acknowledged with a smile, which Rogue returned.

"Remy asked meh. Thought ah'd bettah come fo' moral support," She replied lightly. Henry smirked at her but eyed her warily before gesturing for her to follow him to her seat. Rogue ignored his look and walked behind him slowly, trying to avoid bumping into people the best she could - Remy certainly had a lot of family, the building was quite full. Then she saw him up at the alter and Rogue softly smiled at the sight of him looking so good in a tux 'Then again, he could probably wear leopard print Speedo and still look hot' the thought causing her to laugh silently.

Taking her seat, she observed Remy as he stood in anticipation. He looked calm enough, no more anxious than any normal man about to be married, to the unseeing eye. But Rogue noticed the slight edginess in the way he stood, the silent nervousness as he glanced around the room watching the growing audience. Not scared, just vexed she concluded - it had to be.

Fifteen minutes later and most of the guests had taken their seats. Remy took a deep breath as they began to silence, 'Dis is it homme, no backin' out now' - but he forced that thought to the back of his head and tried to think of something, anything else. Remy closed his eyes a little and tried to think of anything but the wedding - the sunrise he witnessed the other morning came to mind, the soft glow of the early light as it filtered through the balcony doors, feeling the light breeze as it blew in and cooled his skin, hearing the wind-chimes from across the street moving back and forth, lying next to Rogue . . . Rogue.

He opened his eyes immediately as her face filtered into his mind. She was supposed to be here - looking across the endless rows of pews, his eyes sweeping the enormous amount of guests searching for that one face. The sound of the organ and the tune of the traditional wedding march failed to deter him, as did the shake of his arm as his brother called his name, trying to tell him it was time - she had to be here.

There she was, a small face amongst a sea of people. She looked different, breathtaking compared to what he usually was used to seeing - her hair tousled, the darkness of it making it gleam more distinctly. The accustomed heavy make-up had been lightened for the occasion and for the first time; he noticed she was wearing what looked like a dress - emerald green, flattering her naturally dark looks and eyes wonderfully.

He caught her eye and she smiled at him making him gulp, unable to remove the freeze-frame look from his face. A sharp pain in his side made him wince and he looked sourly at his brother. Henry glared at him and moved his own eyes over to the aisle. Remy followed his gaze and saw what most would perceive as a vision in white. Following the slow movement of the procession as Belle approached him gradually, walking to the tune of the march. Remy suddenly felt everything blur, as though he had finally realized what was happening.

Pulling himself back to his senses, he found Belle standing beside him - glancing over to her without moving his head, he noticed the thin white veil hiding her flawless face, her golden hair pushed back a little in tumbling curls. He closed his eyes briefly, reminding himself as to why he was doing this and looked up silently to the priest as he began to speak. His entire life at that moment seem to flash before his eyes as the priests voice continued - he was listening, trying to concentrate but he didn't hear the words, the sound was fading from his ears as he stared indomitably at the cross on the back wall.

"Do you Remy LeBeau take Belladonna Boudreaux to be your wife? To live together after God's ordinance, in the holy estate of matrimony? Will you love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health, for richer, for poorer, for worse, in sadness and in joy, to cherish and continually bestow upon her your heart's deepest devotion, forsaking all others, keep yourself only unto her for as long you both shall live?" The priest delivered his lines unfalteringly as his words entered Remy's ears.

For the first time in his life he felt dumbfounded, his mouth opened as though to speak but no sound came out. He felt a jab in his side and he heard Belle telling him to answer, but he couldn't move - he was frozen to the spot. This was wrong, he shouldn't be here - this shouldn't be happening. Panic flowed through his veins like it never had before - he waited silently for the adrenaline to kick in. Exhaling loudly he turned his body swiftly to his should-be-bride, noting her violet eyes glaring at him dangerously through the delicate veil over her face.

"Je suis désolé Belle. I can't do dis" He tried to sound as strongly as he could before walking briskly away from the alter towards the church doors at the back of the building. Hearing the distinct mumbles and shuffles of bodies in their seats as the numerous guests began to grow restless and then heard what he had been dreading most.

"I'll kill y' LeBeau! I swear I'll kill y'. Y' worthless piece o' scum!" the increasing volume of the shouting and the sound of heavy footsteps told him someone was coming for him, but he just carried on walking towards the church doors. Suddenly he felt himself being crushed under the weight of another body as someone attacked him from behind, wrestling him to the floor and grabbing him around the neck - seconds later the weight was lifted off him by several others and he got his first look at his attacker.

Pulling himself of the stone floor and adjusting the collar of his shirt with one hand he observed as the person struggled to break free, but was held back by his brother and several cousins.

"Dis doesn't concern y' Julien" Remy warned seriously watching as the young man grappled with his captors. The hereditary, violet eyes of the Boudreaux family bore into his own as Julian fought furiously to break free.

"O' course it does y' son o' a bitch, that m' sœury' jus left up dere. I'm gonna fuckin' kill y' when I get m' hands on y'. Y' gonna wish y' were never born!" Julien bellowed angrily as some of his own family began to try and calm him down. Remy turned abruptly and stormed out of the doors, leaving before anything else could happen.

Rogue watched earnestly as Remy hurried back down the aisle, followed by a fair-haired man who looked remarkably like Belle -yelling at the top of his voice in a way that would make small animals keel over and die in an instant. She saw the man tackle Remy from behind, throwing him to the floor causing nearly everyone in the church to gasp and rise to their feet in an attempt to catch a better view of the action. Rogue stood helplessly trying to also see what was going on as more shouting ensued.

The scuffling of shoes could be heard on the stone floor and then the creak of the hefty, wooden doors could be heard being pushed open. Realizing she had no idea what was going on, she took re-took her seat as some of the guests began to leave, others simply moving around unsure of what to do. Rogue went over in her head the drama that had just ensued - Remy had lost his nerve after all.

Two men appeared to be arguing heatedly near the alter before one of them stalked down the aisle flanked by four or five other men - one of whom was Henry, catching Rogue's eye and what could only be described as pure worry was evident in that look, the bride stood off to the side screaming at the priest - if this wasn't complete chaos, Rogue didn't know what would be a better definition of the word.

* * *

The door banged sharply against the wall and slammed shut again, causing a noticeable dent in the plaster as Remy stomped into the apartment heavily. Cursing himself and running a hand through his hair, he tried desperately to go through what had just happened. 'Merde! Y're in deep now" he thought furiously.'Damn it! All y' had t' do was marry de femme!" he wanted to roar at himself.

Seizing a glass ashtray from the side table, he launched the object at the wall and walked away into his room as the sound of shattering glass, skidding across the laminate floor reached his ears, doing little to cease his anger. Reaching his room he walked over to the balcony doors and opened them, stepping out onto it he watched as the light of the day began to fade and the usual, rambunctious New Orleans night creatures began to emerge.

Steadily he began to breathe more easily and he raised a hand tentatively to his head, trying to clear his mind of the bedlam. The sound of the buzzer at the front door disturbed him from his temporary, composed state and he walked back through the apartment and opened the door, being pushed roughly aside as the invader came storming in.

"What do y' t'ink y' were doin' Remy, hein? What is up wit' y?" Henry roared at him as he followed Remy further into the apartment. Receiving no answer, the older LeBeau gripped his brother's shoulder and twisted him around roughly to face him.

"Y' let everyone down Remy, Père, me, de entire family! What de hell is wrong wit' y'? He shouted angrily at Remy.

"I know Henry! But I couldn't go t'rough wit' it - I t'ought I could but I couldn't!" Remy tried to reason with him. They both fell into silence and stared at each other. Henry's furious glare never letting up, still clutching his brothers shoulder firmly.

"It's dat fille isn't it?" Henry concluded harshly, his eyes still fixed.

"Non, it had not'ing t' do wit' her" Remy answered, brushing his brothers hand from his shoulder and stalking away.

"Remy . . ." Henry warned dangerously, stopping him in his tracks.

"I told y' before, Rogue has not'ing t' do wit' dis" Remy replied heatedly, facing his sibling once again. Henry approached Remy determinedly and lowered his voice to a harsh whisper.

"Well she better hadn't or she will be in as much deep shit as y' are Remy. If I were y', I would get out o' town fo' a while. Julien is after y're blood an' it don't look like he gonna be lettin' up anytime soon" Henry warned him before leaving brusquely, slamming the door behind him. He was right, the entire Boudreaux family would be hunting him down before too long - he had too leave or his life was very likely to come to an abrupt and certainly violent end.

Racing into his room, he began throwing some clothes and other things he would need into a small holdall, there was no time for planning. The sound of the front door being closed again made him look up from his task - a substantial pang of worry hit his stomach as he waited in anticipation.

"Remy? Ya heah?" A distinctly female voice reached his ears. Knowing instantly who it was, Remy continued to pack.

"Remy . . . what ar' ya doin?" Rogue asked confusedly as she stood in the doorway watching him move swiftly about the room, chucking odd bits and pieces into a bag, bemused at what she was witnessing. He didn't answer her or look at her, just carried on packing - Rogue felt a stab of panic in her chest. Just how deep exactly was he? Whatever it was, he obviously wasn't sticking around to find out, that was for sure.

In a second he had adorned his much-loved trench coat and was brushing past her briskly, bag in hand and out of the room. Rogue followed him, almost having to run to catch him.

"What th' hell is goin' on Remy?" She shouted sternly making him pause before he reached the front door. His eyes seemingly transfixed before him, daring not to look around at her. Henry's words echoed in his head - if his brother thought Rogue had something to do with him jilting Belle at the alter, then it wouldn't take long for the assassins to catch onto that notion either.

Turning around he saw her quietly standing a few feet from him, watching him intently, wanting answers. She was in perilous danger and she didn't have a clue - it was like sending a lamb to the slaughter.

"Rogue, chére . . . dere's somet'in' I need t' tell . . ." He was cut short by the distant noise of car-tires screeching on tarmac, making both himself and Rogue look pointlessly towards the front of the apartment. Without having to try, he instantly thought 'Assassins' and rushed the few feet towards Rogue, taking hold of her arm firmly to bring her attention back to him. Rogue looked up at him wide-eyed, 'What th' fuck is goin' on?' She thought anxiously.

"Do y' trust me?" He asked her hastily. She looked at him puzzled by the question, his eyes boring into her own intensely. What was she supposed to say to that? What the hell was going on to make him ask such a question? All this rammed through her mind as she tried to work out what to say. Another loud screech of tires, closer this time - made her look out in the direction of the street again but she was pulled roughly to face Remy once more.

She seethed silently, how could she trust someone when she hadn't the faintest idea over who they really were? He knew that look in her eyes, she was beginning to get annoyed - hell, he would be too but he didn't have time to explain what was going on, he needed to get out of here and fast.

"Rogue?" He probed strongly. Rogue looked at him intently; there was nothing in his eyes to suggest anything but complete sincerity. Nodding her head slowly, not once removing her gaze. Remy took this as a yes and holding her arm more securely, opened the door and pulled her out after him. Leading her down the stairs silently, Rogue taking this as a sign that she should do the same - they reached the corner of the building and Remy cautiously peered around the old brick.

Darkness had already fallen; the street lamps already alight making Rogue even more irresolute over the situation. Deciding that they could carry on, Remy tugged on her arm for her to follow but she didn't budge. Looking back at her and seeing she was about to protest, he held up a hand to her lips to quieten her down.

"Please chére?" He whispered as quietly as he could. If they were going to get out of here, he needed her to let him do it without being disturbed and questioned. Rogue remained silent, though he could tell by the look on her face that he was going to have a hell of a lot of questions later - but right now that didn't matter, as long they got out of New Orleans alive. The sound of a wailing police siren made them both jump and swiftly, Remy pulled her along after him, walking the short distance as inconspicuously as possible to a black motorcycle parked on the other side of the street.

Putting the holdall into the compartment under the back seat, Remy climbed onto the bike and waited for Rogue to get on behind him. Doing so as elegantly as she could manage in the dress and heels she was still wearing, Rogue was silently thankful that it wasn't a very short dress or she would have had big problems retaining her dignity. Remy started the engine and revved the bike, feeling Rogue's arms wrap around his stomach securely, he made one last check behind them and then sped off into the night.


	13. Ambiguity

The cool air whipped harshly upon her bare arms, making them feel ice cold and numb. Her hair blew wildly behind her as she hid her face behind her driver and continued to hold on securely about his waist as they traveled at break-neck speed down the highway, maneuvering around cars, trucks - anything that would normally cause the driver of a vehicle to slow down.

The unmistakable odor of the bayou filled her senses telling her that, although they had been traveling for what felt like hours without stopping, they were still in the state of Louisiana, though she could not tell where or which direction they were going in. The events of the day kept replaying in her mind over and over and she couldn't help but think 'What have ah gotten mahself inta?'

Without warning, Remy all of a sudden turned the bike off the main road and towards an unkempt looking roadside motel. The neon sign half-flashing precariously on the side of the ramshackle building did nothing to improve Rogue's first opinion of the place. The bike skidded to a halt in one of the many vacant parking spaces and Remy lept off without sparing a glance at her and walked brusquely up to the motel reception and went inside.

Rogue climbed off the bike and instantly shivered, wrapping her arms around herself and rubbing her shaking arms as the temperature seemingly dropped - she glanced about her, searching for any sign as to where she was exactly. 'Th' Royal Bayou Motel. Royal mah ass' she thought sarcastically as she read the neon sign. Finding nothing other than that, she looked back towards the main building and could just about see Remy talking to who she assumed was the receptionist, though she could not be sure.

Another chill swept over her body as she watched Remy turn back around and head back outside and walk towards her. His face expressionless, he swept past her to the bike and removed his bag from the seat compartment and then stalked off towards the long row of single story, motel rooms. Rogue watched in utter contempt, here they were on what she supposed was 'the run' from God knows who and he wasn't even going to talk to her. She contemplated kicking up a fuss, but the serious, frown he had worn as he had approached her suggested it was a bad time.

Sighing resignedly, she followed him with her eyes as he stopped at one of the many scruffy-looking blue doors, push in a key and walk inside the room. Feeling another chill, she followed his route over to the motel room and stopped just inside the open doorway and grimaced as the powerfully stale stench of the room hit her like a brick wall. Trying desperately to ignore the unpleasant smell, her eyes drifted unenthusiastically around the room, taking in the dull, gray carpet that urgently needed replacing, drastically out-of-date furnishings and tea-stained floral wallpaper that had obviously seen better days.

She observed with confusion as Remy pulled up the surprisingly, clean sheets on the only queen-sized bed in the room. Dropping the sheets he stooped under it, ostensibly looking for something.

"So are ya' gonna tell meh what it is yoah doin' exactly or am ah supposed ta guess?" She asked sardonically. Crossing her arms decisively over her chest fighting another shudder, continuing to watch as he left the bed and checked the bathroom, refusing to answer her question. Not moving, her face contorted into a glare as he mulishly exited the bathroom, turned on the television and took a seat on the edge of the bed.

"Everyt'ing's okay" He spoke casually, his eyes transfixed on the screen as he switched the channels ridiculously fast. She seethed silently and a glare slowly adorned her features as he spoke. 'Everythin's okay! What th' hell does he mean everythin's okay?' She screamed wordlessly. Here they were, having left New Orleans quicker than you could say 'Boo', driven for miles and had ended up in some sordid motel room and he was barely acknowledging her existence.

Her blood pumped ardently throughout her body, her once cold limbs now burning. He owed her an explanation, no, more than that. He owed her a whole damn book worth of answers. But he paid no heed to her, just sustained his obnoxious stance in front of the television.

"Is that it? No explanation, nothin'" She asked heatedly.

"Not now" Was his emotionless reply. Rogue felt herself filling with rage, making her feel as though she was going to physically explode.

"Ah don't care what ya want. Ah want answers an' now!" She demanded furiously. Remy didn't even blink an eye. Rogue bit the inside of her lip firmly, and closed her eyes in frustration. Obviously screaming at him wasn't going to get her anywhere. Raising a hand, she rubbed her forehead as though massaging a particularly painful migraine and breathed slow and deep. Opening her eyes, she studied him as he sat before the television, still dressed in his tuxedo and trench coat, hunched towards the glass screen.

"Fahne, be that way. But ah want ta' know everythin'" She stated sternly before brushing past him towards the bathroom and slamming the door sharply behind her.

* * *

Leaving the bathroom minutes later, she walked quietly into the main room noticing that Remy was lying on one side of the bed asleep, his coat and jacket having been removed and placed on one of the two wooden chairs situated by the single window in the wall. Rogue watched for any sign that he was awake, but the slow rise and fall of his chest told her he wasn't. Walking further into the room she yawned and conceded that she wasn't likely to get anything out of him tonight and made for the free side of the bed. Pulling back the covers, she removed her shoes and climbed in quietly and pulled them as far over herself as she could considering Remy was lying on top of them.

Laying her head back on the pillow, she looked over at him and absent-mindlessly wondered how he could sleep with everything that had happened in the last twelve hours. However, the thought had barely crossed her mind when her own eyes drifted shut.

There he was in the church, the place shone in a strange warm, iridescent glow and pure white doves beset the stone aisle and the rafters above. The size-able arch doors were open, letting the light pour over the inside of the building - it was like a scene from a Hollywood movie and he was once again waiting nervously by the alter. Henry stood beside him, giving him a reassuring smile as the wedding march began. Looking behind him, he saw his Père and his Tante sat in the front row, surrounded by other members of his family all looking up to him, smiling tenderly and he felt himself ease.

He watched in awe as the bride surrounded by radiance made her way towards him and they both stood side-by-side in silence. He glanced over at her as she removed her veil and felt his heart become overwhelmed with joy as Rogue looked back at him, her beautiful green eyes smiling warmly, invitingly. He took her hands in his and looked on at this angel before him.

But there was something wrong with this picture, there was a dark shadow dancing around behind Rogue and he could only watch as the shadow drew up menacingly closer, finally revealing the livid face of Julien Boudreaux, a dagger clad in his fist.

Remy awoke suddenly, to a pair of angry-looking eyes directly in his line of view. In shock, he jumped up - almost falling off the bed and scrambling to bring himself to a steady composure.

"Merdé! Y' scared de hell out' o' me" He explained haggardly, running a hand through his hair as he stared at the person who had shocked him.

"Good, maybeh it'll bring ya t' ya senses" Rogue scorned insensitively as she sat statue-like on the bed, still in her dress and glaring contemptuously at him. Remy simply cocked his head to the side and looked on at her derisive attitude, she was very much the opposite of the Rogue in his nightmare.

"So, wheah th' hell are we?" She asked in the same manner. Remy sighed and lowered his head; she sure wasn't going to give him any slack. Lifting his eyes to her again, she crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow at him waiting for an answer. Remy let out a deep breath and walked away from her stopping just to take some clothing from the holdall, he needed a wash before he began re-telling one of the worst days of his entire life.

She watched him walk away from her in disbelief, yet again. How much longer was he going to put this off? Perhaps he wasn't going to tell her anything at all - 'Gahd, yoah so stupid! Y' honestly thought he cared 'bout ya an' was gonna tell ya everythin'? He's jus' a no-good swamp rat out for whatevah he can get!" She scolded herself for being so naive. What the hell was she waiting around for? Sighing despondently, she rubbed her arm consolingly and slowly, but surely stood from the bed. Putting her shoes back on, she collected the small bag she had been carrying since the wedding and left the room swiftly, not bothering to shut the door.

Remy shut the door behind him and came face to face with the drawn, fatigued visage of someone that looked like him. Rubbing his chin, feeling the stubble that had grown over-night he at last felt the overdue anguish and magnitude resting upon him. This was it. Was this to be the end of this tale - he wanted to think that it wasn't, but the way he felt right now told him different. Splashing his face with cold water he tried as best he could to avoid his reflection from the mirror above the sink, finding that whenever he did he immediately began reflecting upon himself - he didn't want to do that anymore.

Taking a quick shower and re-dressing himself, he exited the bathroom and went straight over to where the bag was resting on the floor, avoiding the area containing the bed. He would tell her, when he was ready - there was a lot to explain and once told, she would forever be burdened with it. Zipping up the holdall, he prepared himself mentally for his next challenge. Standing, he looked over to an empty room. His brow knit confoundedly, eying the room and noting the motel room door being wide open he stepped tentatively towards it.

There was no sign of any struggle and her shoes and bag were gone, sighing inwardly he pulled a hand through his hair, 'Merdé!' he thought jadedly. She had gone. Knowing she couldn't have gotten far, he picked up the bag and exited the motel, hoping she hadn't hitched a lift or bagged a ride since leaving.

* * *

The road was strangely devoid of traffic and despite the earliness of the day, the temperature had risen significantly. Rogue paced herself the best she could considering her attire and impatiently hoped that someone would appear and agree to give her a ride. She cursed herself non-stop for getting herself into this situation, only aggravating herself even more as she kicked a random stone as hard as she could, not caring where it went. The sun was already high in the sky and she knew that a few hours from now it would be unbearable to walk long-distance in. 'This has got ta be th' worst week o' mah lahfe' she thought testily.

Hearing the sound of an engine she turned, waiting in anticipation for the vehicle to come into view. Upon seeing the vehicle approach around the corner though she growled in frustration and turned her back again and continued walking at a fast pace. The bike slowed to match her own speed and Remy watched as she refused to acknowledge him.

"Rogue, what are y' doin?" He questioned, trying to keep an eye on the road as well as her.

"Go away Remy. Ah haven't got anythin' ta say t' ya" She replied stonily, keeping her eyes on the road beyond. Remy sighed.

"Look, I know dat I haven't exactly been truthful wit' y' . . ." He began, but was cut off as she whirled around swiftly, anger burning in her eyes.

"That's a load o' shit an' y know it. Ya drive meh out heah fo' no reason at all and then don't even bothah tellin' meh why!" Rogue yelled, arms thrashing in rage.

"I know an' I'm sorry . . ." He started but was once again cut off by Rogue's menacing stare and fitful voice.

"No! You asked meh if ah trusted ya . . . well ah don't!" She interrupted, in a strangely calm but harsh manner and then carried on walking. Her words cut deeper than they were intended too and Remy suddenly felt - empty. Stopping the bike and kicking down the stand, he dismounted and traced her steps rapidly.

"It was an arranged marriage t' bring peace between de guild of T'ieves and Assassins" She slowed to a halt, but did not turn around.

"Dere has been war between de two guilds fo' centuries. M' Père is de leader o' de t'ieves. He made a truce wit' de leader o' de assassin's dat if I married his daughter de fightin' would stop." He continued. Rogue listened intently and turned to face him at his last words.

"So yoah a thief?" She asked, unsure as to whether to believe him or not and watched him nod mutely.

"Why did y' hav t' leave then?" She quizzed, a little more tentatively. Remy caught her eye, but couldn't look at her.

"B'cause de assassins are probl'y after m' blood fo' not goin' t'rough wit' de weddin'" He mumbled.

"But what's all this got ta do with meh?" She probed firmly making him shift his feet uncomfortably.

"Not'in', but dey might t'ink dat y' had somet'in' t' do wit' me not gettin' married" Was the incomprehensible answer. Rogue's eyes bugged open at the response.

"What? Why?" She asked loudly, still not seeing how that notion could come about. Remy smirked a little at her outburst.

"Rogue, dese people are killers. Once dey get an idea in dere heads, dey don't let go until dat idea has been sorted." He replied, eerily sadistic looking her directly in the eye. Rogue tried to suppress the worry welling up in her stomach. Gulping she retained eye contact.

"What about yoah family, cain't they protect ya?" She asked quietly inquisitive. He snorted at the thought.

"Dey jus' as pissed as de assassins. Dey'll forgive me eventually, but at de moment I'm about as safe wit dem as I would be in a house full o' flyin' daggers" He concluded half-heartedly. Rogue soaked up the information she had just been given. It seemed so unbelievable, so far-fetched - perhaps thats what made it all make complete sense. Remy stood helplessly, waiting for her to say something, anything. The few minutes of silence that ensued were excruciating, until she spoke once more.

"So what are ya gonna do now?" She questioned.

"Dere's a guy I know in Vegas who might b' able t' help" He replied certainly. She nodded at his answer silently, not knowing what to do. Should she trust him, after all - it had taken him this long to tell her about the wedding - did she really want to put her trust in him. Her brain told her no, but her conscience said different. Remy closed the small gap between them and held her arms, looking intensely at her.

"I promise y', everyt'in will work out" He assured her softly. Rogue sighed resignedly and let him lead her back to the bike, thinking his words over - but no matter how much she tried, somehow she didn't quite believe him


	14. Journey

Rogue observed wordlessly as he took another bite from the greasy double cheeseburger, chewing it ever so slowly. Remy looked up at her and shot her a strange, mouth-full-of-food closed smile and watched as she picked up her own burger and brought it to her lips. In truth, neither felt like eating - perhaps it was the never-ceasing worry consuming their brains, that in turn subconsciously filled their stomachs as well - who knew?

But after driving for thirteen hours straight, food was the only thing to come to mind. Remy placed the rest of his burger on the plate in front of him and looked out over the dimming, arid New Mexico desert from the old metal, trailer that had been converted into a roadside diner. Nothing had been said between them since they had left that morning on the highway through Louisiana to Texas, nothing of any importance anyway.

He wondered if she was having problems accepting the oddly fanciful, but very frank truth he had let known to her, or was perhaps even afraid of him now that she knew what he was - but figured logically, that Rogue wasn't the type to be scared off easily and if she really was fearful of him, she probably would have tried to make a run for it by now.

Her quietness disturbed him somewhat. It was true that she was not the chattiest girl he had ever come across, but her silence irritated him. Rogue was quick to fire off when she was not happy about something and would never let someone walk over her without a fight, but when it came to talking about herself – she was a closed book. It made him wish he could read her mind or something, it annoyed him to hell that he did not know what she was thinking sometimes.

The minutes passed and the faint reminiscence of the evening sun that had been present not so long ago, had now completely vanished, obscuring the parched desert landscape. They had both stopped eating, Remy looking out into the darkness while Rogue absorbed the new surroundings.

In her opinion it was little more than a glorified truck stop. Drivers seemingly from all over the country, dotted themselves about the place - some sat in the window booths, talking to one-another or just sat alone - others played pool on the table at the other end of the trailer, occasionally laughing loudly as one of their own team got lucky. She turned her head back towards Remy, who was sat opposite her and was staring into the dark, deep in thought. Her mostly untouched burger, sat motionless on the plate in front of her as did his half on his plate. Taking a sip of her drink, she sat back as relaxed as she could into the plastic seat making sure her dress didn't show anything unnecessary and let out a sigh.

"So what's gonna happen when we get ta Vegas?" She asked out of the blue making Remy look at her, surprised that she had said anything.

"Find de guy I was tellin' y' bout, see if he can help us. Y' ev'r been t' Vegas chérie?" He asked lightly, needing some conversation to take his mind off things. She shook her head.

"No. Nevah been anywheah really" She stated with a small smile, looking away a little self-conscious. Remy nodded knowingly in response, about to say something else when the entire population of the trailer looked over to the entrance as the door banged open loudly. A slim-built man, dressed in South-Western country attire complete with hat, neck-tie and bad mustache - sauntered into the diner, tipping his hat at the waitress behind the bar and make his way to the back of the trailer where he proceeded to shout greetings to the truckers and then start negotiating play of the pool table.

Both Remy and Rogue looked each other with questioning looks before trying their best to ignore the over-zealous talk of the wannabe cowboy. Just seconds later and Rogue made her excuses to go to the bathroom, while Remy paid for the half-eaten meals.

Arriving back in the main diner, Rogue found the booth she had been sitting in empty and looked about in confusion for her companion. Spotting him over at the pool table playing against the strident cowboy that had entered the diner a few minutes ago, she sighed silently. Strolling up to them, one eyebrow raised questioningly she decided not to waste time by simply watching and made her self heard.

"Hey Rem. Ah thought we were leavin'?" Remy looked up just before he was about to make a shot and smirked devilishly.

"Sorry chére. I couldn't help myself, besides I got a wager now - two hundred doll'rs - win o' lose. Can't exactly back out" He replied charmingly. Flashing her another smirk, he turned back to make his shot. Rogue sighed exasperatedly and stepped up closer to watch the action, seconds later feeling the warm, heavy breath on her neck from someone stood behind her. Rolling her eyes, she turned her head just enough to see who was making a conscious effort to invade her space.

"Howdy miss. I don't think we've been introduced, the name's Kevin Sydney" The man presented himself, stepping around Rogue to stand in front of her - grabbed her hand in his own bony one and plant his lips upon it. Rogue tried to hold back a disgusted look; noticing Remy had stopped play and was looking both incredulous and amused by what was going on.

Kevin raised his eyes, trailing them slowly up her body making Rogue want to kick him where it hurt for being such a pervert. Reaching her face with his eyes, Rogue managing to keep her face stonily cold, he flashed her a seamy grin and refused to stop staring at her.

"Why don't we up the stakes a bit?" Kevin suggested loudly, turning about to find Remy leaning casually against the pool table.

"What t'?" He answered, squinting his eyes just a little, a half smirk twisting his mouth.

"Simple. You win and I will give you five-hundred dollars cash, but if I win - I get the girl" The would-be cowboy proposed sordidly. Rogue instantly stepped away; furious at the sexist audacity of this idiot she opened her mouth to tell him where he should shove his proposal when Remy spoke up.

"Y' got a deal" He agreed, standing tall he caught Rogue's eye and gave her a knowing wink. Her mouth dropped open in astonishment - she was the bet. Rogue glared at Remy as severely and menacingly as she could, 'He had better win, damn it! Or he's gonna wish he was born a girl!' she thought maddened, for some reason believing that he wouldn't lose this wager. Crossing her arms over her chest, her face in a permanent glower she watched as Remy took his first shot.

Rogue noticed Kevin step around into her line of view and pout his lips at her making Rogue raise an eyebrow and focus her glare on him - this only seemed to encourage him.

Half an hour later, Remy took his final shot - the ball slowly tipping into the corner hole. Remy smirked, obviously pleased with the result and held his hand, palm up for his prize. Kevin stepped grudgingly up to him and slapped a wad of notes into his hand and gripped it - for a weedy looking guy, he was a lot stronger than he appeared.

"Good play. But if I didn't know any better I would have said that you knew you was gonna win anyway." Kevin told him accusingly; suggesting that he thought Remy had somehow fixed the game. Remy smirked arrogantly and gripped his hand back.

"I call it luck," He stated simply. Kevin stared him in the eye and they parted slowly, Remy taking his trench coat and placing the money in one of the pockets. He walked up to Rogue and nodded his head towards the door signaling for them to leave. Rogue jumped off the counter she had been sat on and passed the few truckers that had stayed to watch the game, suddenly feeling an arm wrap around her waist, her whole body being pulled off in a different direction.

"Aww! Come now sweetheart, you don't want to leave me now do ya?" Kevin cooed to her, taking a firmer grip about her waist eying her body yearningly. After recovering from the shock of being grabbed unwillingly, Rogue grabbed his offending arm to push him away.

"As if! Ah would rathah poke mah eyeballs out" She scoffed heavily, trying to shove him away more forcefully at the sickening smirk on his face.

"Well looky here, a good old southern belle. Ain't it my lucky night - I like some spirit in a woman" He admired squalidly, not loosening his grip on her, making her struggle more.

"Let er' go homme" Remy stood a few feet away from them, a serious frown etched on his face - staring fixedly at Kevin, though he sounded calm it was a warning none the less. At his words, the man dropped his arm and Rogue pushed away from him and passed Remy, wanting to just get out of the place. Remy followed a few steps behind her, the sound of Paul's arrogant laughter filling the diner.

Suddenly, she stopped mid step and turned back around, a determined look on her features and walked swiftly back towards the idiotic laughter. Remy tried to stop her, but she barely heard his warning. Reaching the aspiring cowboy, she reached back her arm and launched her fist forward, smashing it into the egotistical jerks jaw with as much force as she could muster. A satisfied smirk adorned her face as she watched his head fly backwards with the force and she turned again to leave, passing a stunned Remy who soon followed her.

Once outside Rogue took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. Her previously adorned victory smirk now long gone.

"You owe meh big tahme," She stated ardently, knowing Remy was approaching behind her. He stopped beside her and smirked.

"How did y' figure dat out?" He asked lightly as he looked over at her, his response making her turn to him instantly.

"Ah dunno, how 'bout th' fact thaht you used meh as a bet so you could play some stupid game while ah had ta put up with thaht pervert!" She almost shouted, pointing animatedly back at the diner to make her point. Remy looked at her seriously for all of a second before bursting into laughter making Rogue look forebodingly at him, seriously considering punching him as well.

"Oh, come on chére! It was all part o' de plan, y' distracted him while I won us an extra five-hundred dollars" He explained.

"You won! Ah think ah should get at least seventy-fahve percent o' it considerin' th' trauma ah had ta go through" She replied a little calmer but no less stern.

Crossing her arms and staring wistfully up at the clear night sky, she thought about Kurt - wondered how he was, wishing she could see him right now. Her temper finally subsiding, she began to feel the still, but cool air of the desert and found herself trembling involuntarily.

Remy watched her move away and look up at the sky, he didn't know what she was thinking about but he did know that she spent way too much time doing it. Stepping up beside her, he too looked up and soon realized that it was shrouded trap for analyzing ones life despite its beauty and peacefulness.

"Did ya cheat back theah?" He heard her ask quietly. Looking over at her, he saw her still gazing at the stars and noticed the tremble of her body as the temperature dipped.

"I'm jus' a good player petit'. In evr'y way possible" He replied cockily, seeing her turn her head at his response - thinking she might scowl but instead she smirked in return and shook her head softly. Remy opened up his trench coat on one side to her, Rogue stepped closer to him as he wrapped half the coat around her along with his arm.

"Yoah too big-headed fo' yoah own good Cajun" She stated with a smile, making Remy smirk at the new nickname as they both looked on at the dark sky, readying themselves for whatever tomorrow would bring.


	15. Recreation

It was mid-afternoon by the time the infamous sight of the Las Vegas Boulevard came into view. Knowing that Rogue had never seen the original Sin City, Remy made a point of driving down the strip towards downtown. Rogue looked on astounded by the vast, intricately built casino's lining both sides of the road. It was a shame, she thought that she couldn't have seen the place under different circumstances, but was grateful none the less for having the opportunity.

Reaching downtown, they passed Fremont street and proceeded to turn into many smaller, lesser known streets beleaguered with strip joints and seedy bars until they stopped outside yet another tucked-in, run down motel. Dismounting the bike, Rogue wrinkled her nose unenthusiastically as she waited for Remy to return with the room keys.

"Ya got a thing foh run-down motels haven't ya?" She let known as he approached, handing her the key as he opened the seat compartment of the bike to retrieve his bag.

"Jus' tryin' t' keep a low profile chére. Bring t' much attention t' ourselves stayin' in one o' dem big hotels," He stated diffidently, leading her over to the block of rooms.

"It's lahke one o' them cheesy horrah movies, ya know - when all th' main charactahs are killed by some axe-wielding psychopath or somethin'" Her random thought made him chuckle as they found the right room and she opened the door.

Hours later and Rogue found herself sitting in the room by herself, bored out of her brains as she flicked through the fuzzy channels on the television aimlessly. After a few hours rest, Remy had left to go see the 'friend' he thought could help them, saying that he thought it better to go alone and not explaining anymore than that.

That had been a couple of hours ago, though she couldn't complain too much. She had after all, got a change of clothes after managing to find a store in the neighborhood that didn't just sell leather bondage and other strippers delights. Letting out a slow, deep breath she dropped the remote on the bed and stood up, stretching a little and yawning out of boredom.

Peeking behind the window curtain and looking out into the parking lot, she let out a sigh as she saw that there was still no sign of Remy. Pacing pointlessly around the room, she finally let into temptation and putting on the black biker boots and mid-length, green hooded coat she had bought earlier - she swiftly left the room.

It was a lot cooler outside, making her zip up the coat as she wondered down the dark street looking for somewhere more interesting to spend the evening, forcing herself not to scoff and roll her eyes as she passed numerous strip bars and alike.

Stopping outside an old looking tavern, she looked it over and upon seeing no advertisements for topless pole dancing, she decided to take a chance and entered the noisy establishment.

Stepping inside, she grimaced as the racket increased and shouts, cheering and booing could be heard coming from further back. The place was dimly lit and reeked a strong mixture of alcohol, smoke and sweat making her nose wrinkle in disgust - though she did not turn back, somewhat intrigued by the place. Scantily clad waitresses tottered their way around the various tables and people, handing out huge-ass beers and flirting with the regulars.

Another cry of shouts and loud thumps made Rogue move slowly towards the back of the building, having to push her way through some tighter crowds of people and ignoring the unwanted looks and gestures.

Without warning, a body was flung roughly against the side of a metal cage, making Rogue jump visibly as it came into view. Riveted, she watched as the heavily tattooed man pulled himself up and spat out the bodily juices that had been forced into his mouth by the last blow - running towards whatever he was up against and being immediately thrown back to the floor, howling as he held his jaw.

Several men jumped into the cage and removed the man as Rogue raised her eyes to see the force behind the powerful attack, seeing a firmly defined-muscled physique leaning one-handed against the opposite side of the cage, back turned. Another man entered the cage, running against each side roaring at the audience as the contenders name and physical statistics were announced by the referee.

"In the right corner we have the brutal, the menacing . . . Bulldozer! And in the left, the indestructible and unbeaten champion . . . Wolverine!" The announcer shouted over the rambunctious crowd. Rogue watched in anticipation as the 'Bulldozer' roared and raced as fast and as powerfully as his heavily-built frame could carry him to his opposition and launched a fist into his opponents kidney - repeating the action into his other side and over again.

The other, not having moved since his last match, taking it all and moving in unison to the beatings, finally collapsing on the floor as the 'Bulldozer' stepped away, hollering triumphantly to his fans. Though the fight was not over, as the mysterious adversary pulled himself up, allowing Rogue to see his face for the first time. She held back a breath as she saw him - his dark hair shaped in the strangest fashion she had ever seen, icy intimidating eyes set on a rugged face along with a vicious snarl.

He pushed himself forward and began beating and pounding his larger opponent, the sound of cracking ribs making half the audience gasp, the others roaring bloodthirstily. The man didn't let up, continuing to thrash his rival until he collapsed on the floor, wheezing for more oxygen - the 'Wolverine' skulking back to the corner staring fixedly at the floor, panting heavily like an animal.

The announcer cried the winner over the audience and Rogue found herself being pushed back by the raving throng, eyes transfixed on the cage fighter.

Minutes later, she was sat at the bar glancing inconspicuously at the people around her. Taking the smallest sip from her flat soda, she noticed the victorious cage-fighter take a seat at the bar across from her - now wearing a heavy leather jacket and a cigar clenched firmly in his teeth.

She heard him ask for a beer, his voice low and gruff as he counted out his winnings and then as if sensing that he was being watched, looked up abruptly in her direction. Rogue quickly averted her eyes, not wanting to bring attention to herself and took another sip of her drink.

"Ya want somthin' kid?" He asked deeply, observing the quiet figure across from him. Hearing this, Rogue turned her head and met his stare.

"No. Thaht was a good fight back theah though" She replied, trying to act less nervous than she really felt at talking to him. He snorted a bit - taking a lighter from his jacket pocket and lighting his cigar.

"That's nothin'. Ya ain't from round here are ya?" He diverted the attention from himself, puffing out a roll of smoke. Rogue narrowed her eyes at him.

"No. But neithah are you" She stated with certainty, watching as he turned his gaze back towards her and inhaled the cigar again. The slight hint of a smirk tugging at the side of his mouth.

"Depths of Canada. Name's Logan" He introduced himself, allowing a small smirk that could have easily been misinterpreted as a snarl.

"Mississippi and it's Rogue" She replied, receiving a nod from Logan who took a substantial gulp of beer and both fell into a comfortable silence, until Rogue flinched visibly as a hand was placed on her shoulder. Whipping her head around and relaxing herself when she realized whom it was.

"Shit Remy! How'd ya fahnd meh?" She admonished as he chuckled at her jumpiness.

"Didn't t'ink dis was y're type o' place chérie?" Remy questioned with a smirk, bringing himself into her line of view.

"Well ah would have thought yah'd beh moah at home in th' club across th' street" She retorted, referring to the numerous strip bars and gentleman's clubs she had passed getting here.

"Hey, is that guy botherin' ya?" Both Remy and Rogue looked over to the source of the deep, rough voice that was Logan who in turn, glared daggers at Remy.

"That's okay Logan, this is Remy" Rogue assured him, noting the instantaneous hostility between the two men. Finally Logan removed his glare and went back to drinking his beer. Remy looked incredulously at Rogue in reference to her 'new friend', who in return gave him a 'What?' expression.

"So what happened?" She asked finally as Remy took a seat beside her and asked the bartender for a beer.

"Not good. We're on our own fr'm here" He replied despondently, taking out a crushed cigarette pack from his trench pocket. Rogue watched him with annoyance as he slipped the cigarette into his mouth, lit it with a lighter and let out a trail of smoke.

"What's gonna happen now?" She questioned seriously, ignoring the habit and taking another sip of her drink. Remy chuckled unhappily as he paid the bartender for his drink and shrugged mutely, watching as several men behind Rogue began setting up what looked like a poker game.

Rogue skimmed her surroundings and sighed at Remy's indifference - catching the eye of a fair-headed man sat at the other end of the bar. He grinned at her and Rogue removed her eyes promptly just as Remy stood from his seat.

"Be back soon chére" He said simply and walked away behind her. Rogue rolled her eyes 'Be back soon chére. Whatevah!' she mocked him silently, swirling her half full glass in her hand. Looking behind her, she saw Remy sat at a table with a group of unfamiliar faces playing what she assumed was poker - the chosen dealer distributing the cards amongst the players as a leather-wrapped girl sauntered about Remy, touching his arm and chest flirtatiously - flipping her long, wavy and extraordinarily vibrant red hair over her shoulder, smiling saucily as he whispered something into her ear.

Rogue frowned as she watched the two . . . could this possibly be jealousy creeping up on her, she shook her head slightly to convince herself it wasn't. Sighing, she turned her head back again, noticing that Logan was still brooding on his side of the bar.

"What's a pretty thing like you doing all by her lonesome?" A low voice asked, making Rogue twist her head brusquely towards the person beside her. It was the fair head she had caught the eye of earlier, leaning against the bar beside her wearing a checkered shirt.

"Havin' a drink" She replied, giving him a sarcastic smile. The man grinned at her, obviously not taking the hint and stepped closer.

"Like another?" He offered signaling for the bartender. Rogue rolled her eyes in annoyance at the arrogance of all men apparently.

"No thanks. Ah'm quite alraghte . . . bah mahself" She finished as politely as she could manage.

"Come on, what do ya . . ." His sentence being cut off as he was interrupted sternly.

"She said no, so beat it" Logan ordered gruffly. Rogue noticing for the first time that he was now standing beside her. The fair-heads mouth fell grimly.

"What are you, her father? This has nothing to do with you, so you beat it?" At his words, Rogue watched mouth a gawk as Logan moved faster than lightning around her and grabbed him with one hand around the throat - his icy eyes narrowed sinisterly, like a wolf having caught its prey and determining how best to kill it. The man caught his breath as he felt the others fingers wrap about his jugular and raised his own in a bid release them.

"I think it's time ya learned bub, that when a woman says no . . . it means no" The last words released in a low rumble, his stare never letting up. The fair head met his eyes defiantly, his face contorting into a sadistic smirk.

"Just you try wolf-man" As his words met Logan's ears, he growled ferociously and threw the man into the back of the bar with what could be described as seemingly super-human strength. Glass shattered instantly, spilling over the bar surface and onto the floor - a pin being dropped could have been heard clearly as the patrons fell into stunned silence and gaped as Logan launched himself with a feral growl after his victim.

As if this were a cue, suddenly everyone began jumping around - at first joining the fight that had originally been started and then just randomly battling whoever came into sight. This was a full on bar brawl with no doubt and Rogue was right at the center of it. Breathing heavily, she dodged a flying fist as she maneuvered her way between the wrestling bodies trying to find the exit. Catching a few kicks to her legs and sides along the way and then being caught of guard, received a set of bony knuckles to her cheekbone - the blow causing her to stumble back into a wall, which she near enough fell against.

Looking on at the violent tussling she felt someone grip her forearm and turned to see Remy begin pulling her away - both doing their best to avoid more blows and dishing out some of their own. Glimpsing the exit ahead, they were suddenly brought to a halt as a giant fist went crashing into Remy's face making him stagger backwards, though managing to stop himself from falling. Holding his jaw, he and Rogue looked on at the nemesis before them - though it was not to be as a rampaging body flew into the leviathan, hurtling him to the ground. Looking up in astonishment as Logan stood, hunched viscerally and panting heavily.

"Ya kids get outta here!" He yelled over the noise, turning to clout another imminent attacker. Not needing to be told twice they pushed past him. Headed for the door.

"Thanks Logan" Rogue breathed to him as she reached him. He smirked devilishly at her in return.

"Not a problem darlin' - I like a good bar fight" She barely heard him over the noise as she watched him throw himself into another brawl before being dragged out the exit.


	16. Occurrences

The woman looked up again at the young couple standing in front of the counter, her gaze falling particularly on the pale, dark haired female. Both looked tired beyond hell, dark circles festooned both sets of eyes and the guy – as good looking as he was - looked as though he hadn't shaved for a good week or so.

What struck her most was that they literally looked like they had just walked out of a war zone or something. Ample welts and cuts marred their arms and faces - the young woman having a predominantly nasty looking contusion very high up on the right cheekbone, just under her eye. Noticing the young man looking strangely at her as she had stopped packing their groceries, she instantly went back to her task.

"That'll be sixteen forty-five" The woman told them, placing a final pack of cookies into the brown paper bag. The young man handed her a twenty without delay and picked up the bag and left the store. The woman watched him go with confusion before his female companion held out her hand for the small change. Giving the younger woman a sympathetic look, she handed her the few coins and one dollar bills and observed as the young woman glanced back at her peculiarly and then followed after her companion

Remy waited outside for Rogue, holding the full paper bag in one arm as she walked out the grocery store towards him. Digging into the pocket of his jeans, he presented a pair of dark sunglasses as she reached him.

"Do me a favo'r chérie an' put dese on," He asked condescendingly, handing her the glasses. Rogue looked up at him oddly as she took them from him and handed him the change in return.

"Why?" She asked, her brow knit as they began walking away from the store.

"B'cause I'm sick o' bein' looked at like I'm a woman beater o' somet'in'" He stated inarguably, walking awkwardly as they reached the first of the Californian sand.

"Sorry ah asked" She replied sardonically, following his lead through the golden sand until he finally seated himself on the natural ridge of the beach over-looking the gently lapping sea, hued in an orangey pinkish glow as the sun began its routine setting in the distance.

"Easy fo' y' t' say. Y' ain't been gettin' glared at all day" He responded diffidently, taking a bottle of water from the bag and opening it. Rogue rolled her eyes and put the glasses on, taking a seat beside him and pulled out the pack of white chocolate and macadamia cookies from the brown paper.

"So wheah we headed next? Ah'm guessin' eithah north or south b'cause we can't go any furthah west an' ah doubt we came all this way ta go back east" She reasoned logically, looking to him for an answer. Remy didn't look at her but took a cookie from the packet now lying between them.

"Dunno. Wher'd y' wanna go petit'? De whole o' de USA is y're oyst'r . . . except Louisiana an' surroundin' areas" He explained, twisting the cookie in his hand, looking at it hungrily.

"Hmmm . . . Seattle" Returning her attention to her cookie.

"Seattle?" Remy repeated as a cue for her to carry on.

"Yeah . . . ah'd lahke ta see th' home o' Starbucks" Her reply was muffled because she had a mouthful of cookie, making Remy laugh at her. She asked him an almost indecipherable 'What?' causing him to shake his head with a smile.

"Jus' y're reasonin'"

"Mah reasonin'? So says mistah 'ah-care-thaht-everyone-is-lookin'-at-meh'" She retorted dramatically, finishing her cookie.

"Well dey wouldn't if someone hadn't start'd a full on bar brawl" He came back with, taking a sharp bite from the cookie and wincing as he chewed, raising a hand and holding his jaw.

"Ah didn't start it!" Rogue proclaimed against the insinuation.

"Okay, y're wolf frien' did den" Remy replied, still wincing as he swallowed the food. Rogue made a 'pffft' sound and looked out resolutely to the ocean. They sat in silence as they watched the evening rays of light make the gentle waters glisten and shimmer - the beach was mostly empty around them apart from a young family further down by the shore, the parents packing up buckets and spades while the two children paddled and splashed about happily in the sea - their giggles making Rogue smile despite herself.

Couples and singles dotted themselves about the beach in a bid for privacy to catch the last sun of the day - the sand still felt comfortably warm under foot, making it feel like a cozy blanket to lie against. Rogue sighed contently and removed her boots and socks, stretching out her legs in front of her and leaning back on her elbows so she still see the colorful ocean - watching as a man and woman wondered along the shore, hands entwined and looking at each other adoringly.

"Ya evah been in love?" She asked softly, glancing over to see Remy lying back, arms beneath his head looking up at the sky.

"No. Don't t'ink I'm de type." He replied in an equal tone, not removing his gaze. Rogue rolled her eyes at his answer and shook her head gently.

"Famous las' words huh?" She stated with a smirk.

"What do y' mean?" He asked unmoving.

"Well, people who say thaht usually end up fallin' head ovah heels" Her answer making him laugh a little as she returned her gaze to the view in front.

"Y' sound like someone who would know" He reasoned, feeling a cooling breeze blow across the sand bank.

"Ya do know who ya're talkin' ta rahte?" She answered with an incredulous snort, sitting up and removing the sunglasses, prodding the bruise on her face carefully - wincing noticeably as her fingers came into contact with the damaged skin.

"I happen t' t'ink und'r dat 'untouchable' facade is de ultimate romance novel fan" He replied deadly serious, just about managing to hold back a smirk as he pictured the look on her face at his comment, though he could not see.

"Yeah, ah'm in the Mill's and Boone section at th' book store regularly - jeez Rem, ya must'a got a concussion or' somthin'!" She retorted sarcastically kicking his leg. Remy smiled at her response and kicked her back, which Rogue returned by kicking sand at his feet - this little exchange carrying on a little longer until eventually Remy leaped up unexpectedly and half picked up a struggling and protesting Rogue - part carrying, part dragging her across the sand until they reached the first ripples of water.

Catching her just before she made a run for it, he lifted her in an ungainly bridal-style with her still thrashing about and continued into the cool water until it reached just above his knees and dumped her unceremoniously. A huge grin adorned his face as he watched her lift herself out of the water gasping and soaking wet, grinning insatiably as she gawked at him in disbelief he started laughing.

Turning about he began walking back towards the shore still chortling - Rogue, coming to her senses gave chase and threw herself at him, pushing her weight into his shoulders and throwing him off balance, causing him to fall backwards into the water. Breaking above the surface, he gasped and pushed back his sopping wet hair with one hand, splashing Rogue with the other. She retorted with a larger splash that in turn started another good-humored fight until Remy grabbed her and pulled her close, putting a hand on her head and threatening to dunk her.

"Okay, okay ah give up!" She cried laughingly as Remy removed his hand from above her head and she twisted her body around to face him. Rogue looked out onto the brilliantly setting sun, half of it already dipped below the horizon and out of sight - reality all but blurred at the brushing sensation of her hair as it blew across her face with the heightened breeze.

Remy raised his hand and tucked it behind her ear gently and then softly touched the purpled skin on her cheekbone. Rogue turned to him at the contact, their eyes met instantly - searching the others soul for any identical feeling. His were different, Rogue noticed - she couldn't tell what it was, they had the same darkness to them as when they had first met, the same odd mahogany coloring - but she could feel the intense warmth, emotion, passion emerging from him now. As though on an automatic timer their faces leaned in, stopping just a millimeter from contact - their lips parting, the warm breath detected by the other, both deciding whether they should take the next step.

Taking the initiative, Remy met her lips with his own, savoring the sweet suppleness of hers. Starting slow and encouraging her to open her lips more to deepen the kiss, his tongue slipping into her mouth sensuously, tasting the sugary reminiscence of the cookie she had eaten earlier. She kissed him back, feeling his rough stubble tickle her chin, his arm still hanging loosely around her waist - her heart beating heavily. Slowly pulling apart for respiratory reasons, they opened their eyes to see what they had been closed to.

"Sorry" He murmured, not taking breaking contact.

"Ah didn't stop ya," She whispered gently back, already missing the sensation. Remy held eye contact, trying to force himself to step away - knowing that for her own sake it would be better for him to just walk away. But his thoughts were all in vain as he found himself frozen to the spot, staring into those gloriously deep emerald eyes of hers - widened at the prospect of whatever was going to happen next.

Tipping her head to the side a little, she tentatively raised her hand and brushed her fingers tenderly across his throbbing jaw line before leaning up and pressing her lips ever so softly against his. She deepened the kiss, leaning into him, liking the new surge of feelings that were rushing through her veins at that moment. He knew then that he couldn't resist her, wanting whatever part of her that she would let him have.

It was only the rapidly cooling water as the evening sun disappeared over the horizon that broke them apart, as they both started to feel the effects of standing in freezing cold water whilst soaked to the bone. Letting each other go, they walked back to the sand bank where they had been sat and collected up their belongings in silence.

He couldn't do this to her. Remy knew that he could not give her what she most desired, or more importantly what she needed. It was selfish on his part that he was more than willing to accept whatever she would give and yet not want to give her anything in return. Underneath it all, Rogue was still an innocent and loyal to the core – perhaps even naïve to an extent.

As selfish as he wanted to be, he just couldn't do that to her and he was pretty certain that she understood that on some level. He wasn't good for her and in return, she was definitely not good for him and he knew that if this was allowed to continue, he would ultimately disappoint and break her trust in the end.

"Rogue . . ." Remy began quietly as she turned to face him at the sound of his voice. She could see the hesitancy in his eyes and knew exactly what he was going to say.

"Ah know," She stated simply, giving him a weak smile and zipping up her boot and walking away.


	17. Denial

Rogue walked into the room, pushing the door sharply behind her so that it banged shut. Throwing the plastic bag that was carrying the newly bought clothing and other necessities onto the freshly made double bed, she quickly removed her sopping wet clothing, discarding it carelessly onto the carpeted floor and redressed in a pair of mottled gray cropped sweats and a black hoodie, at last savoring the warmth of the unworn fleecy lining.

Collapsing forward into the bed, snuggling her head below the pillows in a bid to hide her face from the world - blighting herself for her actions only moments ago. The only thing she could be grateful for at this very moment was that she had managed to convince Remy that staying in another grotty motel would be worse to their health and sanity than by being caught by the Assassins or whoever they were running from - surprisingly enough he hadn't put up much of a resistance and she had even got a separate room, which she was even more thankful for considering that she just wanted to hibernate for the rest of her life.

'Why did ah let him kiss meh? Why did ah kiss him back? What th' hell was ah doin!' kept replaying over and over in her mind. Closing her eyes, she could see him rising out of the water - his soaked t-shirt only accentuating his god-like sculptured physique, the look in his eyes just before he kissed her, the warmth radiating from his body against hers, reliving the passion, the desire and knowing that in that moment she had wanted him more than anything.

Rogue forced herself to open her eyes to stop the surge of images and memories and beat the pillow above her head with one clenched fist - pressing her face into the patterned bed spread, she began mumbling 'No, no, no' into the fabric, still pounding the pillow. A knock at the door caused her to abruptly raise her head at the offending noise.

"Go away" She moaned lowly, shoving her head back into the mattress.

"Rogue?" It had to be him didn't it? Rogue growled in frustration and hit the pillow again, silently praying that he would believe she wasn't there.

"I know y're in dere" She heard him state, making her sob despairingly. Still hanging on to that last thread of hope that he would take the hint and leave her be.

"Chére, are y' gonna open de door or am I gonna have t' break m' way in?" Rogue sighed jadedly and pulled herself off the bed thinking that he might just be crazy enough to do it. Reaching the door, she opened it and looked at him expectedly. Noticing that he too had changed and looked as though he was going out.

"What?" She asked him expressionlessly. Remy looked at her, raising an eyebrow and held out the brown paper bag he was holding towards her.

"T'ought y' might b' hungry." He said simply, trying not to notice the way her hair was beginning to go wavy as it was drying.

"Oh, thanks. Ya goin out?" She asked unsure, taking the bag from him.

"Uh . . yeah . . . um ." He finished lamely, not knowing what else to say.

"Okay . . well, have a good nahte" She pressed for the end of this rather awkward conversation, if it could be called that.

"T'anks, y' too" He managed to let out as she gave a small smile and closed the door. Remy let out a long breath and pulled a hand through his hair resignedly, 'Dieu! Dat fille is hard t' read' he thought, turning away from her door. Memories of the kiss they had shared earlier were still running a hundred miles an hour through his head, he tried to take his mind of her - but it wasn't working.

"Merdé LeBeau! Y' need t' get y'self laid," He mumbled incoherently to himself, reminding him as to the reason he was going out in the first place. He figured that if he could just have one night of being his usual, carefree self - then he would go back to normal and stop feeling so . . . he couldn't put a word to it and wasn't even about to try and explain it to himself and settled instead of wiping his mind clear of everything to do with her and concentrate solely on making the most of the pending night ahead.

Rogue waited behind the door, barely breathing until she heard him walk away. Sighing in relief, she dragged herself back to the bed and allowed her body to buckle forward onto it - reaching across for the television remote on the bedside table, turning it on and began flicking through the channels.

Settling for HBO as a film was about to start, she relaxed herself back into the pillows and opened up the brown bag for something to eat, her stomach growling and gurgling in hunger as she dug through the contents.

* * *

The club was full tonight that was for certain, bodies crushed up against each other as people tried to move around between the different areas of the place. Remy looked over the sea of heads, spotting the bar situated right of the back, making him think that whoever designed this place was a complete idiot - his first port of call was always the bar, having done this routine many times before.

"Bourbon" He said loudly to the woman behind the bar as he finally reached his destination, watching as she nodded in understanding and rushed off to get a glass. Trance music blared out from the speakers, the DJ scratching the records every so often making the dancers on the colorfully flashing tiles seemingly more hyperactive. Remy suppressed a sigh, this really wasn't his type of place but it would serve as a good distraction. Paying for his drink, he tipped the glass towards his mouth letting the liquid flow onto his tongue so that it stung piercingly - to most, the sensation of whiskey burning the delicate skin within the mouth would make them cough and splutter, but Remy prided himself on his apparent immunity to the toxic liquor and let it trickle down his throat.

Placing the empty glass back on the counter, he glanced about his surroundings catching the eye of a few women looking in his direction, in particular a short haired blond who he made the extra effort to smirk charmingly at.

If this was the distraction that he had partially convinced himself of needing, then this was it. Try as he might though, that niggle in the back of his mind would just not let go and despite himself, found it to be growing louder rather than disappearing.

Remy turned his attention back to the bar knowing what the next part of the drill was - smiling to himself as he caught sight of the same blond, slide herself into position beside him. Twisting his head towards her, sweeping his eyes from her bare knees, to the barely-there short skirt sitting on her hips, over the hot-pink satin halter neck exposing a good portion of her ample cleavage up to a slim neck and an attractive elfin-shaped face.

The woman smiled at him and leaned forward to ask him if he would dance with her - Remy of course did not refuse and allowed himself be led away from the bar. Squeezing through the hoards of energetic dancers, the woman wasted no time in beginning her seductive dance ritual - pressing herself closely to him and moving her hips to the pulse of the music, brushing them against his own.

He in turn took hold of her swaying hips immersing himself in the moment, feeling her body as she twisted herself around so that her back was to him and began grinding herself against him. A new track started, the rhythm changing - Remy gently twisted her back to face him and leaned down to kiss her. Her mouth opening liberally, permitting him access without restraint.

Lips crushing against one another, neither wasting the opportunity to continue the habitual grinding of their bodies. The kiss was missing something though – that spark, the ignition of oppressed lust finally allowed to be set free. He had been spoiled in experiencing that and now this was almost un-enjoyable in comparison.

The track ended and Remy knew the next stage of this rendezvous was about to begin as they parted lips, the woman smiled seductively and Remy turned to lead her through the masses.

They stumbled through a restroom door, he didn't know which - he didn't really care and maneuvered themselves into a cubicle. Tongues twisting around each other hungrily, she pushed herself up against the wall pulling him towards her - his hands sliding up the back of her top, hers fumbling with the opening of his pants. He felt her grab him and he moaned pleasurably, his expert hands descending her spine to the hem of her skirt and tugging it upwards as she gasped agreeably.

Then he stopped, both froze mid-movement and then he pulled away as she watched him questionably. Doing up his pants, he opened the cubicle door and left the restroom brusquely without sparing the woman another glance.

* * *

He pulled the electronic key out of the pocket of his pants and went to swipe it in the door to his room, but found himself hesitating just before the card reached the sensor. His head turned to the side to look at the door set a few down from his and his feet uncontrollably began moving in that direction. Stopping outside his eyes target, he stared pointlessly at the number on the door and listened for any sound beyond. He heard nothing and aimlessly tapped his own electronic key on the sensor of the foreign door, his mind ticking over what to do now.

A minute or so later and he was opening the door as gently and as silently as he could, his eyes drifting around the darkened room doing his best not to let too much of the street light from outside into the room.

Closing the door quietly, his eyes just making out the silhouette of the double bed and its occupant stretched out on one side. Stepping soundlessly towards the figure, he crouched down beside the bed - sensing the calm, shallow breathing of sleep he watched her slumberous face motionlessly.

Sweeping his eyes over every feature, every millimeter of skin, memorizing it, yearning to push that stubborn lock of brown hair that always fell in front of her face away - but he didn't. She was his forbidden fruit, the thing he wanted most but yet could not have. Standing up slowly, he turned and started silently for the door.

"Remy is thaht you?" He stopped instantly at the sound of her voice. Knowing he had been caught, he twisted his head just enough so that she could hear him clearly.

"Yeah" He answered simply, noting the rustle of bed sheets as she sat herself up.

"What are ya doin back so early?" She asked, trying to wake herself up a bit more.

"Got bor'd, so I came back" He replied, not moving to face her.

"Uh-huh. Did ya want somethin'?" She questioned quietly, feeling a little uncomfortable at his stillness. He sighed softly and ran a hand through his hair - it was a good question, what did he want?

"About today . . . I . . ." The words caught in his throat, he felt like banging his head against a concrete wall at his inability to speak. Rogue merely observed him quietly in the darkened room, ignoring the slight invasion of a foreign perfume inter-mingled with his own scent. She could make this easy for him,

It was only fair really. She was terrified of being hurt, of allowing her heart to be crushed and she was quite convinced that it was the same for him on some level. Letting him shoulder all the blame for not wanting to do that wasn't really fair.

"It's okay, ah understahnd. Ah'm too much o' a risk and thahts fahne b'cause we're friends an' all" She finished for him, waiting for any sign of approval, any sign at all that he was still able to move would comfort her. Remy swallowed at her words - the word 'friends' sticking out predominantly, she was wrong - he was the risk, not her.

"Yeah. Sor'y I woke y'" He agreed with her and made to leave once more.

"Don't go" She spoke so quietly he barely heard her, but stopped automatically. He closed his eyes in indecision, not knowing whether to face her or walk away like he told himself he would do. He felt her hand touch the skin on his arm, sending a chill sensation throughout his body - he hadn't even sensed her behind him. He turned his head more so that he could see her, immediately regretting doing so as the faint orange light seeping in through the curtains from outside highlighted her face.

"Jus' stay" She whispered, giving him a soft smile. Remy nodded gently, watching as she climbed back onto the bed and turned on the television. Rogue looked over to his unmoved figure and patted the space next to her - Remy gave a small smirk and moved slowly over to the other side of the bed.

"What we watchin'?" He asked, making himself comfortable as she settled on a channel.


	18. Retreating

It was nearly half-eleven in the evening as a black motorcycle skidded to a halt outside an all-night ice cream parlor - the roaring engine suddenly diminishing to nothing as the driver removed the key from the ebony machines ignition.

Rogue was the first to dismount, stretching her arms and taking a few steps to re-introduce normal sensation to her limbs, noting where they had stopped and looking over to Remy questioningly.

"Why ar' we heah?" She asked, feeling the cooler northern air hitting her numb limbs and shaking involuntarily.

"Felt like ice cream," He answered simply, with a mischievous smirk.

"At this tahme o' nahte?" She raised a quizzical brow, causing Remy to chuckle and start toward the entrance. Rogue followed him in, wrapping her arms about herself to keep out the chill. Thankfully, to Rogue's relief the inside of the parlor felt much warmer than outside and she picked out a window booth and sat down. Surprisingly, they were not the only ones stopping for an anomalous nighttime snack as various groups of people sat together or alone within the restaurant.

Rogue leaned back into the corner of the hard plastic seat, her eye lids drooping precariously as she struggled to keep herself awake by listening to the odd, monotonous elevator sounding music, being played throughout the parlor.

"Take it y're tired, hein?" She heard Remy say, focusing her eyes enough to see him sit across the table from her. She sighed softly and sat herself up groggily, making herself comfortable and looking at Remy to see him watching her with amusement.

"Ya cain't tell meh yah're not tired as well. . . we've crossed two states an' been drahvin since this mornin'" She replied, attempting to wake herself up more by blinking.

"Guess 'm used t' it" He flashed her a sly smirk as she raised a hand to smooth out her tied back hair. He couldn't help but watch her.

"What? B'cause o' ya 'job' or yoah extrah curriculah activities?" She quipped, smiling wryly to herself. Remy let out a laugh and shook his head lightly.

"Had dat one comin'" He admitted, at that moment the exchange being interrupted as a young waitress appeared, placing a huge bowl of ice cream in the center of the table along with some spoons and paper napkins - flashing a shy but sweet smile at the both of them before scurrying away again.

Rogue watched Remy with curiosity, noting that he didn't once look at the pretty waitress or even attempt to flirt shamelessly with her, like she had witnessed on many occasions before now. He had been acting out of character since they had left California, not obviously - but just certain habits and traits of his personality had seemed - altered.

She watched him as he picked up one of the purposely-crafted long stainless steel spoons and took a scoop from the top of the pile of different flavored ice-creams in the giant bowl - he didn't wince, which told her that his jaw must have healed some, though he had bothered to shave in the meantime after she had teased him mercilessly about growing a beard. He looked up at her and she gave a small smile.

"Y' want some?" He offered, taking another scoop. She rolled her eyes and picked up the last spoon, hovering it above the frozen food - deciding which color to taste first.

"Why'd ya buy a big bowl foh?" She asked, scooping out a mouthful and savoring the creamy strawberry flavor as it melted on her tongue.

"All-y'-can-eat special. Figur'd y'd do de typical fille t'ing . . y' kn'w, say y' don't wan' any but den end up eatin' most o' mine" He replied nonchalantly, taking another mouthful.

"Ah'm thaht obvious huh?" She replied with a sarcastic snort, taking a glance about her. Nothing much had changed, a few people had left and some new faces had appeared - turning her eyes back to the person opposite her, watching as he put another spoonful into his mouth.

"Ar' you okay?" She inquired seriously. Remy looked up at her, his brow knit quizzically at her unexpected question.

"Yeah. Why?" He replied, watching as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"Ah dunno. Ya just been actin' . . . weird" She finished lamely, not quite knowing how to explain his behavior. Remy looked at her vacantly with an expression saying I-have-no-idea-what-you-are-talking about. She sighed exasperatedly and racked her brains for a way to elaborate her out-loud observation.

"You've ignored every woman ya've seen tahday" She reached an answer, looking at him for an explanation. He smirked at her accusation and prodded the slowly melting ice cream with his spoon. He had hoped that she would not notice his subdued mood, but apparently nothing escaped Rogue's observant eyes.

"Y' been watchin' m' chérie? 'M flatter'd" He retorted, studying her with amusement as her whole compassionate facade vanished in an instant and was replaced instantly with the rolling of her eyes and an incredulous look, directed at him.

"Ah take it back. Yah do still think yah're Gahd's gift ta women" She let known indifferently, taking a quick scoop of pistachio.

"Dat's harsh chére. Very harsh" He replied with a chuckle watching as she placed another spoonful and placed it into her mouth, noting as her features softened almost invisibly at the creamy taste.

"Ah'm only tellin' it as ah see it. Besides, yoah not exactly denying it!" She countered easily.

"Dat was below de belt," Remy warned with smirk, not sure where she was taking this.

"Ah'm jus' tryin' ta fahnd out moah about ya, seemin' as ya deflect every question about yoahself. Ah mean, ah've known ya foh a while an' ah only jus' realized ah don't actually know anythin' 'bout ya" She explained, taking a deep breath as she finished and falling into silence.

Remy contemplated what she had said, she was right - he never told anyone much about himself. It was something he had picked up over the years, if no one knows they can't use it against you or track you down. This particular habit seemed to be proving very useful in light of the possibility that Julien, or any of the New Orleans Assassins were after him. Putting down his spoon, he leaned back into his seat and looked directly at her.

"What do y' want t' know?" He voiced bluntly. He watched with some amusement as she stumbled a little at his uncharacteristic sudden invitation.

"Ah dunno, anythin'! Yoah favorite food? Movie? Song? Yoah childhood . . . " She watched him stare blankly at her, wondering what was ticking through his head at that very moment. If that was one thing she had learned about him, was that he had a formidable poker face - near enough impossible to read.

"An' what do I get in return fo' givin' y' dat information?" He returned impassively. Rogue shook her head softly in disbelief. She should have known he would revert to this, she was forgetting herself far too easily.

"Shit Remy! This ain't th' underworld or whatevah ya do as a 'thief' an' not everyone is tryin' ta kill ya!" She reasoned in a harsh whisper, sensitive to the fact that they were not alone. He didn't move an inch, swallowing her words with their full intensity.

"Well den I guess we're two o' a kind, non?" He stated more than questioned, earning him a fierce glare from across the table.

"An' how d' ya figure thaht?" She asked thornily. Their eyes now fixed in silent conflict, neither willing to surrender.

"Comin' fr'm a fille who appar'ntly dropped outa de sky an' den disappears t' go see a brot'er nobody knew 'bout, is kind o' a contradiction don't y' ti'nk?" Remy retorted in much the same manner. Rogue, not letting up her glare - looked on incredulously, narrowing her eyes - barely registering that Remy's eyes had diverted from her, over her head and shoulder.

"Don't ya dare bring mah brothah inta this . . " Her voice raised more at the mention of Kurt. Not receiving an answer from Remy, she felt like hitting the table to regain his attention like a spoiled toddler.

Remy narrowed his eyes curiously at the man, dressed completely in black sat on the other side of the restaurant - watching him and Rogue closely. Various possibilities ran through his mind - the man may have just heard them arguing and was one of those strange weirdo's that took odd pleasure in listening in on other peoples arguments and life drama's, but nobody else in the restaurant was paying any attention to them. The fact that the stranger was dressed completely in black and was apparently alone did nothing to qualm his suspicion either.

He noticed, the table in front of him was empty - perhaps he had only just had his order taken, but it was not busy and Remy had not seen him enter recently, meaning he must have been sat there for some time. Did he really want to stay and find out if this man was just a normal customer with a fetish for ice cream?

"Remy? . . . Are ya even listenin' ta meh? . . . Remy?" She urged him irritably. No, he didn't want to find out. Standing slowly, he casually walked over to the other side of the table, ignoring Rogue's cantankerous ranting.

"Shut-up Rogue" He said lowly, keeping a wary eye on his suspect.

"No, you shut-up!" She retorted defiantly, crossing her arms. His eyes switching instantly to her and leaning down slightly.

"Get up" He ordered, trying to act as inconspicuously as possible, looking pleadingly at her to just do as he said.

"Fuck you!" Her voice raised even more, though her words passed directly over his head as he glanced back over to the pending stranger and saw him standing up, a hand dug into the inside of his dark jacket. Instinct kicking in, Remy abruptly gripped Rogue's arm, pulling her in a bid for the exit. The suddenness of the action, making her nearly trip and struggle against his firm grip on her arm, though it was in vain as she soon found herself being drawn through the single door marked exit and out into the parking lot.

"What th' hell do ya think yoah doin'?" She demanded angrily, not stopping her resistance at being hauled around unwillingly. Remy turned about abruptly to tell her to 'shut-the-hell-up' but was rendered speechless as his eyes widened at something behind her.

"Now What?" She asked lividly, spinning herself about to whatever had caught his attention and seeing a well-built man walking briskly out of the ice cream parlor, towards them and aiming his arm at them. Rogue looked on in disbelief as he took aim and the sound of a quieted but-unmistakable shot, let out - she felt herself being dragged away, until finally realizing the reality of the situation and taking charge of herself.

Another shot sounded, missing them again as they reached the motorcycle and climbed on swiftly. Rogue gripped her arms tightly about Remy's waist as the engine began to move, closing her eyes as yet another shot was fired. She heard Remy swear loudly and the bike swerved to the side as they built-up speed and made their get-away.


	19. Liberation

He didn't stop, he didn't dare to - figuring that making it to the next biggest city would be the easiest place to get lost in, Seattle was just twenty seven miles ahead and for now that would be their next stop. He needed a new plan and quickly, this had not been preordained in his plans – at least not at this stage in their journey anyway.

Her arms were still grasped firmly about his waist, assuring him that she wasn't hurt or worse - allowing him to feel the tiniest sense of relief, though he knew the situation was getting graver. They were a damn long way from New Orleans and somehow, they had tracked him down despite his greatest efforts to leave no trace or evidence to follow. Though what surprised him more was that Julien wasn't here to do his own dirty work himself – it was very unlike the hot-headed assassin to leave the pleasure of his revenge to somebody else. There had to be an ulterior motive of some sort – though exactly what, he could not figure out at this precise moment.

But looking back to what had happened in the ice cream parlor, the darkly-dressed gunner either had a terrible shot - or he was shooting to injure, to disable rather than out-right kill, 'Prob'ly so Julien could finish de job' he concluded silently, checking his mirrors for what seemed like the one-hundredth time in the last hour for any sign that they were being followed. The road clear behind them, he lifted his eyes again to the way ahead and breathed a sigh of reprieve as the glittering city landscape of Seattle engulfing the night sky came into view.

Ignoring the pain of the open wound on his upper arm where the mysterious gunman's bullet had nicked him - a near miss, but close enough to break through the material of his trench coat and tear a few layers of skin from his arm. He couldn't tell if it was bleeding, though his entire arm felt uncomfortably sensitive to the bitterly cold rush of air whipping past him - stinging the exposed flesh and sending an unsolicited chill throughout his body. Doing his best to push the pain away, he focused solely on the breath-taking Seattle skyline approaching ahead.

* * *

Pulling in to the small parking lot outside a tall, chain-hotel building - the two passengers dismounted the black motorcycle. Heavy rain had begun to fall and swiftly, Remy removed their bags from the back seat compartment and walked briskly into the hotel foyer, trailed closely by a very silent Rogue.

Reaching the front desk, they waited patiently for the night-duty staff-member to stop taking on the telephone in the closet office behind the desk.

"One room f' t'night please" Remy requested casually as the smartly dressed man on duty walked over to him.

"Yes sir. Can I have your name please?" The personnel asked for politely, whilst tapping into his computer.

"Smith" He replied without faltering hesitation. The man looked up to the couple before him and then back down to the computer screen again.

"Okay, two people for tonight . . . that will be one hundred and twenty dollars. How do wish to pay?" The man continued his over-practiced routine and watched as the younger man before him pulled some notes and an Arizona drivers license from the inside of his coat pocket. He counted the wad of money quickly and then handed it over to him without saying a word.

Remy watched the personnel re-count the money and put it aside before checking the counterfeit drivers license carelessly and tapping the information into the database on his computer. Finally after a few minutes he handed the license along with an electronic key card back to Remy.

"Room three-forty-six, just take the elevator up to floor three and turn right. Have a pleasant stay Mr. and Mrs. Smith" The night personnel completed the checking-in and went back to the telephone. Remy almost smirked as he imagined the look on Rogue's face at the very mention of being married as he tucked the cards into his pocket and headed straight for the elevator, not pausing to look at her.

Entering the hotel room, Remy immediately dropped the bags and headed for the bathroom to check his still very sore wound, hearing the room door being shut sharply behind him. Taking of his coat slowly, pulling it extra carefully over his injured arm and discarding it onto the floor - wincing as he got his first good look at the wound, it wasn't overly deep but enough to have made it bleed a little and hurt like hell.

Running some warm water into the sink, he selected one of the complimentary washcloth's provided by the hotel and dipped it in, ignoring the deep, unexpected rumble of thunder from outside and not noticing Rogue leaning against the open doorway, her arms crossed and face expressionless.

"Mistah and Missis Smith?" She admonished, the tone of her voice relaying that she was clearly not impressed with this new development.

"Not'in' new chére, y' pretty much been m' wife dis whole damn trip" He retorted, pulling the sleeve of his t-shirt further up onto his shoulder and hissing uncontrollably as he began to wash his stinging laceration.

"Oh great! Ah feel so much fuckin' bettah. Ya wanna explain ta meh whaht th' hell was goin' on back theah?" She almost shouted at him, now standing up straight - an angry glare adorning her features. Remy stopped attending his wound and looked up to her from his seated position on the toilet, growing more annoyed himself as a sharp flash of lightning illuminated the room and them simultaneously.

"What do y' t'ink? De Assassins found us and dey tried t'shoot us - dat's what happened!" He yelled at her in return, flinching as the cooling material of the washcloth touched his wound again.

"Ya tellin' meh they followed us all th' way up heah?" She asked heatedly, about ready to explode.

"I told y' dey were dangerous!" He reproofed, holding the damp washcloth to his arm and exiting the bathroom, brushing past her swiftly and crossing the dimly lit room - just able to see by the single muted bedside lamp and increasingly violent flashes of lightning.

"Ya nevah said they would trail our asses all th' way!" Rogue argued back, balling her fists so hard to release the tension throughout her, watching as Remy felt for something in his bag - found it and then began searching in the cupboards near the built in wardrobe.

"Merde! Don't y ev'r shut de hell up?" He slighted back, at last finding the mini bar and selecting one of the ridiculously small bottles of spirits. Slamming the door shut, he stalked over to the bed and sat down - not once looking to the person he was arguing with.

"Well ah wouldn't beh shoutin' if ya had told meh whaht was goin' on in th' first place" She near enough screamed at him, watching his silhouette on the bed, the dim bedside light just about aiding her vision in seeing him lifting the washcloth he was holding on his arm and looking beneath it, only looking up to face her as her accusation hit him.

"Hell, I know 'bout as much as y' do, so why don't y' tell m' somet'in 'bout y'self. . . oh, wait - dats right, we don't talk 'bout y!" He finished sardonically, knowing that the change of subject would stunt her spitfire temper for just a while and turned his attention back to figuring out how to bandage his wound without making too much of a mess.

Rogue seethed in silence at his words, guilt suddenly rushing through her veins like she had never felt before, a nauseatingly sick sensation hitting her stomach as if being kicked in her abdomen violently. He was right, what more information could he give her - what she had wanted without realizing was personal and she had refused, even neglected to reveal anything about herself. How could she expect someone to give up themselves to her if she would not do the same?

She had shut herself off from the world, protected her heart and soul from the hurt that others could inflict and had somehow along the line alienated everyone, keeping them at a distance – never giving the chance to see the person beneath her shell. But did not everyone do that to some extent? Remy, despite his accusation was the same as she – a different person lived beneath the skin, the outward facade was just that, a prevarication to distract from the soul inside.

Another fierce flicker of lightning made her raise her eyes to his figure still sat on the bed, taking a few side ward steps she was able to work out in the dim light, what it was he was doing exactly. She sighed sadly and unclasped her still clenched fists and watched silently in the bad light as he opened up the bottle he had taken from the mini bar and took a swig before resting it on the side table beside the bed, he then proceeded to try and undo a medical compress he had remembered being left in his bag at some point.

Rogue took a slow, deep breath and stepped forward toward the bed and climbed on next to him - taking the compress from him, she easily removed it from the plastic and removed the cloth he still held over his wound. Wincing a little as she took as clear a look as she could get in the bad light, she was silently thankful that she wasn't squeamish - feeling Remy flinch a little as she gently placed the compress onto the laceration. Reaching for the roll of fabricated bandage he had also taken from the bag, she began to unravel it and slowly, but firmly wrap it around his arm.

"Ah'm sorry," She almost whispered, tightening the bandage as gently as she could. Remy felt his heart slow to a soft beat at her words, if his heart could have literally melted it would have at that moment. Tentatively, he raised his hand to her chin so that her apologetic green eyes lifted to meet his.

Another flash of lightning and a clap of thunder made the precarious bedside lamp flicker until it finally gave out, throwing the room into complete darkness except for the severe blazes of lightning illuminating the room every so often - though this did not serve as a worthy distraction as they continued into each others gaze through the darkness. Leaning towards each other without hesitation to meet the others lips softly, their mouths moving gently in unison gradually becoming a little more deepened.

Rogue allowed her arms to find their way around his neck, Remy's about her waist as they pressed themselves further together. His hand discovering the bare skin between the hem of her top and her pants, running his fingers over its smoothness and raising them further as she whimpered pleasurably - one of her own hands finding its way into his hair, the other grasping his good arm lightly.

Rogue felt his hands caress smoothly up her back, hitting the clasp of her bra and working the area beneath - liking the sensation she dropped her arms and reached down to the hem of her top and pulled it over her head, immediately returning her lips to his and throwing the offending item aside - seconds later and his top was gone too.

Holding her, Rogue found herself being lowered down onto the firm mattress, mouths hungrily trying to savor the taste, the feel of the other. Remy pulled away and began kissing her neck teasingly, moving slowly downward - Rogue sighed in pure rapture, her body shuddering uncontrollably at his touch. She wanted him, he wanted her and for this night they would have each other.


	20. Reminiscences

Her eyes drifted open to the soft beam of light floating through the unshielded window, disturbing her atypical, blissful slumber. Though despite the sun's impolite intrusion, she felt oddly at ease - a warm, fuzzy feeling possessing her entire body. She sighed contently as the remembrance of certain partaken events filtered into her mind, allowing a hint of a smile to grace her lips as she felt an arm drape itself over her from behind and the comforting sensation of another's body heat against her own.

Warm breath tickled the back of her neck, sending butterflies fluttering about in her stomach uncontrollably. Bringing up a hand to gently run a finger across the skin on his arm back and forth, mesmerized in thought and letting the glory of the morning have it's full effect, it was not long though until she felt him stir behind her and let out a long, deep breath, telling her that he too had been awoken by the impudent daylight.

Remy smiled gently to himself as he felt the soft tickling sensation continue repetitively across his forearm, finding it strangely soothing and heartening, comforting even - though he did not open his eyes until the gentle murmur of her voice prompted him to do so.

"Ah was born in Mississippi. Spent mah whole lahfe theah until a few months ago, with mah Momma and mah brothah Kurt. Mah Daddy left befoah ah was born, but . . . ah had a step-fathah foah a while" She finished weakly, letting out a shaky breath - somewhat hoping that he had not heard her. Remy, surprised a little by her unexpected openness, listened intently to her slow words, not moving a muscle as he silently absorbed the little information she had given.

"So, Kurt isn't y're real brot'er?" He queried lightly, his voice a little husky having not long been awake. She felt her heartbeat hasten at his words, though she forced herself to breathe slowly to calm herself and keep her emotions in check. She shook her head in reply and then realized that from his position he would not be able to tell what that gesture meant.

"No. Mah Momma married again when ah was two an' then had Kurt" She replied quietly. Remy remained still - a few minutes elapsing in silence, assuming that she was not going to reveal anymore until she began to speak again.

"He was a drunk - had a really nasty tempah. Used ta hit her when he was mad . . . he hated meh, probl'y b'cause ah wasn't his. Stupid bastard got himself killed bah a drunk drivah ironically enough" She gave a bitter laugh that racked her body as tormented images and memories from a past she had strove to forget over the years, resurfaced themselves in her minds eye.

Remy reached for her hand with his overhanging arm and held it tightly, pulling her body closer to his in a comforting embrace. Her quivering body that had mixed somewhat from embittered hilarity to hushed sobs, subsided as she fell into his hold - feeling an unusual mental release from her before unspoken history.

"Served him rahte. Ah told her so many tahmes, but she wouldn't listen . . . she jus' carried on takin' it, let meh take it too an ah ended up hatin' her foh it" She continued. Remy couldn't be sure exactly as to the extent of what 'taking it' meant as she did not elaborate, though from her hesitancy to relive it and the evident hostility in her voice as she spoke - relayed to him that they were not good memories. He felt his blood boil at the thought of her being hurt and abused deliberately and was sure that had it not been for the fact that this 'step-father' was dead - he would have been on a murderous rampage after the bastard right at that moment.

Instead, he tightened his hold about her and kissed the top of her head - a pang of guilt swelling in his stomach over how he had pressed her to divulge experiences she had obviously not wanted to remember. They remained in silence, the uncomfortable upheaval of memories still sat silently in Rogue's mind though she felt them slowly recede, disappearing back to where they had come from as she relaxed into Remy's arms.

"Gumbo, De Thomas Crown Affair and recently 'What it means to miss N'Awlins'" He said decidedly out of the blue.

"Huh?" Rogue asked confusedly and moved her head slightly to unmuffle the sound of her voice at his random words.

"Y' ask'd m' last night at de ice cream place" He replied warmly.

"Ya remembahd thaht?" She let out a laugh, the pleasant sound bringing a smile to his own mouth. They lay in comfortable silence, enjoying each other's embrace for a few more minutes before Remy began to speak.

"Nev'r knew m' birth parents. Liv'd in an orphanage till I was six . .. when a couple adopt'd m'" He spoke with a sad sigh, some of his own worst memories of his early days resurfacing. Rogue twisted about in his arms to face him, an inquisitive but concerned look adorning her features.

"Y' were adopted?" She repeated quietly. Remy gave her a small smile and brought up his free hand, twisting her dark hair that had taken on an auburn shine in the sunlight - around his fingers gently - nodding to her question.

"Oui. By de LeBeau's, who want'd anot'er kid f' dere ot'er adopt'd son, Henry . . an' dey pick'd me. Gave m' a home an' a family" He continued, captivated in the moment and playing with her hair as he looked into her softened, compassionate eyes. Rogue gazed back at him, thinking through his unexpected revelations.

"So thahts how ya became a thief?" She asked sensitively as he smiled at her question.

"Adopt'd int' a family o' dem, didn't really hav' much choice. D'ough t' b honest, I can't imagine life not bein' one" He continued to smile, though inside he was feeling a little disheartened at the actuality of not being able to imagine a life without thieving or Assassins for that matter. Rogue watched him intently, seeing his smile falter after he finished speaking. Without hesitation, she lifted her head and kissed him tenderly on the lips, he instantly pulled her toward him closing any possible space that had been let between them, to deepen the kiss. Rogue raised her hand onto his shoulder, slowly trailing it down his firmly defined arm until he suddenly flinched away, breaking the contact between them.

"Owww!" He moaned, lifting himself to take a closer look at his injured arm. Rogue looked on concerned, raising herself to look at the bandaged limb.

"Ah'm sorry. Ya should prob'ly go ta a hospital or somethin'" She apologized. Remy looked immediately at her incredulously, raising an eyebrow at the very mention of the word 'hospital' making Rogue huff and roll her eyes at him.

"Fahne! But ya should really get some antiseptic or whatevah . . . theahs gotta be a drug store around nearby" She reprimanded, climbing out of the bed and walking over to where the bags had been dropped the night before. Remy diverted his attention from the dull ache of his arm, smirking as he watched her naked, retreating form saunter across the room - observing as she picked up a few items of discarded clothing from the floor, taking a few objects out of the bags and dressed herself in a long sleeved, black v-neck, dark jeans and the green coat she had acquired in Las Vegas - all within minutes of leaving the bed.

"Don't want y' t' go alone chérie," He thought aloud, moving himself to get up. Rogue rolled her eyes again at his idiocy and bent down to put on her boots.

"Don't be stupid. Ah'll be gone all o' ten minutes if thaht - ah'm sure you'll survive without meh" She said, standing and placing a stubborn hand on her hip, looking at him as if to say 'I'm-going-alone-whether-you-like-it-or-not'.

"I doubt it petit'" He replied with a customary mischievous smirk, still sat on the edge of the bed admiring her figure from his position - watching as she scoffed at his remark and left the room.

Smiling to himself, he pulled his legs back onto the bed and relaxed back into the pillows, taking the television remote from the side table and switching it on. He idly thought that this had been the most honest and truly open conversation he had ever had with anyone in his entire life and what surprised him more was that he didn't regret a word, didn't feel any remorse for revealing more of the inner sanctum of his personality, of his life. Though incidentally, he couldn't help but feel bad at what little she had told of him of her life before their meeting - he found that his thoughts had often wondered over the past few weeks to when they had met and what his life would have been like if they hadn't.

He had never been a believer in fate, associating life more with a game of poker - knowing when you have a win and knowing when to fold - simple - until he met her, his mind somehow twisting to not completely disregard fate and destiny. He sighed and switched the channel, growing annoyed with the sound of the squeaky-voiced 'Power Puff Girls'. Whatever was going on, he knew one thing for sure - he didn't regret for one minute meeting Rogue and scarily enough, he couldn't envision the time they had known one another without her.

* * *

Rogue strolled down the busy street, looking at the shop signs ahead of her in search of the drug store the hotel receptionist had given her directions too, 'Ah eithah took a wrong turn somewheah or thaht guy had no ideah whaht he was talking 'bout' she moaned sarcastically in her head, settling on the latter reason as the most logical answer.

Finally, after a bus had nearly soaked her by splashing through a huge puddle on the side of the road from the storm last night - she saw a sign indicating a pharmacy and ran across the road at a convenient interval between traffic.

Emerging from the store a few minutes later, she began a slow walk back to the hotel, mapping out the route in her head so she wouldn't get lost. Turning a familiar corner, she suddenly felt uncomfortable and quickened her pace, trying to act as unassumingly as possible - passing another block, the feeling still did not die and she turned her head to the other side of the street - though she could not see anything suspicious and tried to pace herself, putting the feeling down to her being in different surroundings and over-reacting.

All of a sudden, she heard a car pull up abruptly behind her causing her to look about in alarm as two men jumped out of the black, tinted-window vehicle and gave chase after her. Adrenaline kicking in to her system she turned about and bolted as fast as she could - though she was not fast enough as one of the men clutched her arm, making her twist about and punch him in the face. The shock of the attack making him let her go, though by that time the other man had caught up and grabbed her from behind and began dragging her back to the stationary car.

Rogue struggled as hard as she could against the mans grip, attempting to kick his crotch and legs as he held her arms securely to her sides. Just about breaking free as he doubled over in pain, she made to make another getaway, though not realizing that the other mercenary had recovered from his momentary shock and was approaching behind, stopping her in her tracks.

"Damn bitch!" He snarled aggressively before knocking her out cold with a single blow to the head.

* * *

The sound of the telephone made him jump - he looked at it as if had somehow offended him and waited a few more rings before walking over to it and picking up the receiver."We av' de fille LeBeau. Y' ev'r want t' see her again - y' know where we'll b'".


	21. Abducted

He was stunned into silence for a few seconds, the chilling voice of the caller etching into his mind and making him finally realize his fears for the last few weeks had finally caught up with him.

"MERDE!" Remy yelled in rage, grabbing the telephone and slamming it with a furious rage into the nearest wall causing a significant dent and crack of the plaster. Both hands shot to his head and pulled at his hair, closing his eyes in agitation as the present situation came to light - his mind ticking over all possible motives for the recent turn of events.

There was only one clear purpose that stuck out - it was a trap. He felt like ramming his head into a brick wall repeatedly at his inanity - they must have been following him closely ever since he left New Orleans, watching his every move and after the failed attempt at the ice cream parlor the previous night to catch him - they had obviously resorted to luring him back to where this all started - and they were using Rogue as bait.

He had to give it to them, for dense, sadistic assassins they had obviously put some thought into this - knowing that despite his own carefree and selfish facade, he was not one to let someone else take the brunt for his own actions and he realized now that they had taken perhaps the one thing in this world that had come to mean more to him than life or death itself.

He opened his eyes as the comprehension hit him - could it be? How could the pale faced, green eyed girl with a soul as lost as his own, have come to mean more to him than his own life. She had somehow unwittingly made her way into his conscience, into the very fiber of his being and he had fought very little against it – had he ever even had a choice?

He shook his head violently to stop himself from analyzing his thoughts too much, he needed to be alert as to what he was going to do exactly - though that was pointless, he already knew what he had to do and what he would do without any hesitation.

* * *

Rogue awoke groggily, her brain feeling as though it was about to break through her skull and her vision blurred. She moaned lightly as her surrounding shuddered momentarily, causing her head to bang against the wall behind her as she tried to remember what had happened and work out where exactly she was.

Her body was sat up against the wall, she could feel that her hands were tied securely behind her back and her feet tied before her. Another jolt woke her up further, registering the flat monotonous hum of a small aircraft and realized that she was in fact in the cargo area of such a plane, settled between a few square crates and canvas covered boxes.

Flashes of being accosted in a Seattle street, trying to get away before being hit brutally over the head - oh, she remembered it all now and she had a vague idea who was responsible.

The opening of a metal door made her look up and over to the sound as a large built man, ducked into the cargo hold. His piercing eyes staring straight at her from beneath a mane of mousy, tangled hair - she could have sworn he snarled at her.

"She awake yet?" Another male voice could be heard from what she assumed was the cockpit. Though she did not glance away from the monster glaring at her intently, doing her best to return it with as equal ferocity.

"Yeah" The man called back as he stooped into the room, a tall imposing figure that she would obviously not stand a chance against - for the first time in her entire life she was matching her stats against another's and so far was not liking the odds.

"Better check her ties. They said she was a bit of a fighter when they got 'er" The voice from the cockpit shouted out over the noise of the aircraft. Rogue watched vigilantly as the large set man stalked over to her and leaned down in front of her, pushing her neck forward roughly so he could see her hands still bound and then pulling the rope abruptly on her feet. Satisfied that she wasn't going anywhere, he looked to her face again, an eerily intimidating smirk rising at the corner of his mouth. Despite herself, her heartbeat raised intensely though she did not let up her stony glare as he moved closer and raised a hand to her face, trailing a finger down her cheek.

"Scream for me" He requested malevolently, making her tremble a little despite herself.

"Why would ah do thaht hairball?" She replied dangerously, trying not to let her voice wobble and narrowing her eyes at him - his face contorting into a vicious snarl at the name, looking as though he was about to reach out and tear her limb from limb.

"Hey Creed, what you doin' back there?" The voice from the cockpit shouted back, immediately diminishing the murderous look in 'Creed's' eyes. Rogue smirked evilly back at him at her apparent 'good-luck' as he raised himself slowly, eyes transfixed completely on hers before suddenly sweeping down and whacking her back into un-consciousness.

* * *

He drove furiously, swerving perilously around anything that got in his way - ignoring the tiredness hanging over him and the dull ache of his injured arm. He hadn't stopped yet since leaving Seattle and was already nearly at the Colorado/ Kansas state line and he had no intention of stopping either. He desperately fought the impending tiredness away, there was a life at his hands - a valuable one at that too - for now, his own bodily needs would have to come second.

* * *

The next time her eyes opened she found herself unable to see, not because of blindness she soon figured but because of the lack of light in the enclosed space around her. She could hear distant voices from behind her and soon realized from the jolting movement of her surroundings that she was now in a car - the trunk to be more exact.

Her hair stuck dankly to the side of her face which was throbbing like mad, 'Thaht hairball musta' split mah head, asshole!" she thought angrily to herself. She had no idea how long she had been out, but figured it must have been quite a while since she had been transferred from an aircraft to the trunk of a car without her knowing.

She winced in the dark as another large throb pounded from her head and she waited patiently for it to die down again - as it did, she tried to listen carefully to the voices within the car but she could only make out mumbles and the occasional snorts of laughter, nothing of which would help her.

Sighing jadedly, she strained to pull her knees as close and as high to her chest as possible and attempted to bring down her hands under them - she idly remembered seeing the maneuver on television a while back. Her hands strained and she moaned a little as she struggled desperately to pull her legs upward and her arms down. Panting a little, she quickly decided that this was necessary - if she was going to stand any chance at all in getting out of this and strained her limbs once again as forcefully as she could, biting down hard on her lip as her muscles clenched and stretched to the maximum.

Ignoring the metallic taste in her mouth as she bit harder into her lip, her arms finally pulled out from under her feet and she lie back in complete exhaustion, her eyes beginning to feel droopy once again. Snapping her eyes open as they were about to close, she began twisting her wrists inside of the rope - they had somehow become loosened during her struggle and after a few minutes of twisting against them her hands broke free, she instantly rubbed her wrists tentatively as the effects of rope burn caught-up as did the ache of her shoulders and upper arms where she had been positioned uncomfortably for who knew how many hours.

Recovering swiftly, she pulled up her knees and set about un-tying her feet, trying to keep herself as low to the floor of the trunk as possible as the vehicle bumped roughly up and down. Having done that, she rolled onto her back and let her arms stretch out, running her hands over every object in the truck - searching for a weapon of some sort, after all she would need one if she was going to get out of this.

The feel of cool metal hit the back of her hand and she gently felt around for it, pulling it towards her and holding it with both hands she figured it was a wrench of some sort - it would have to do as she felt the car slow to a halt and shake as bodies climbed out, slamming the doors shut. She fought to keep her breath slow and even as she motioned the heavy footsteps around the car, drawing to an end at the back of the vehicle. The click of the latch could be heard and she prepared herself as it slowly opened.

Leaping up as fast as her throbbing body would move, she slammed the wrench into the face of the first person who came into view, knocking them back with a grunt and she instantly made to get out of the car. Swiping her weapon again at another man who came towards her, though she missed as he deftly avoided the wrench approaching him and grabbed her wrists roughly, pushing her arms into a painful position so that she gasped and dropped the weapon onto the ground. She struggled as hard as she could against the mans grip, but found herself soon twisted about, her whole body held tightly so that she could not fight back.

"I'm gonna fucking kill that bitch!" The man she had hit with the wrench yelled as he approached her, a stream of blood running steadily from under his hairline down the side of his face. Her eyes widened instantly as she recognized him as one of the two men that had kidnapped her in the first place, 'Oh Shit!' she thought fearfully as he quickly advanced toward her.

"I don't t'ink dat will b' necessary jus' yet," A voice announced. Rogue looked over to the approaching figure, recognizing him instantaneously as the man who had threatened Remy at the wedding, blond hair, intense violet eyes - basically a male version of Belle. He stopped before her, looking her up and down with an evil smirk adorning his mouth.

"I don't believe we been formally introduced. Julien Boudreaux" He introduced himself politely.

"Ah know who ya are" Rogue sneered back in return, watching as his smirk widened.

"Y' a feisty one non? I expect y' clever as well. Y'd make a great assassin," He taunted, observing in amusement as her face contorted into a scowl.

"No thanks. Ah would rathah not have othah peoples blood on mah hands" She replied testily, his smirk dropping instantly as he held out a slip of paper and walked around her, feeling one of her hands being tugged open.

"Shame, why y'd prefer to be wit' dose stinkin' t'iefs instead I don't know" He thought aloud scraping a sharpened pen knife across her opened palm and smearing the paper over it. Rogue gasped as she felt the knife slice through her skin and fought to hold back a cry as she saw Julien walk back around in front of her once again, holding out the now blood stained paper.

"Jus' f' effect" He explained before turning to one of his lackeys and handing him the paper, before turning about and walking away.

"Oh an' try t' b' a good fille. We don't wan' t' have t' kill y' too soon" He called back, disappearing from whence he had came.

* * *

The bike stopped outside the house and he stared up at the familiar building for a few minutes, contemplating his next move. As much as he hated to do this, it had to be done - climbing of the bike he walked brusquely up to the elegant front doors, pressed the buzzer and took in a deep breath as he waited.

It was dark, sometime in the early hours of the morning he suspected as most of the windows in the street seemed to be black and nobody was around. The hallway light flickered on and he listened apprehensively as the chain on the back of the door was pulled away and the door opened, bathing him in artificial light.

"Remy! What y' doin here?" Henry cried in a quieted whisper as he caught sight of his younger brother on the doorstep.

"Bonjour t' y' too, can I come in?" Remy replied tiredly as Henry looked about behind him and stepped outside instead, closing the door shut behind him.

"Non, best not. Don't want t' wake Mercy and de bébé" He explained. Remy nodded mutely and rubbed a hand over his eyes, thinking how he often forgot that his brother was married and had recently become a father. He was an uncle and a brother-in law and he barely acknowledged it, a mistake that he promised himself to rectify someday. Opening his eyes he brought himself back to the situation at hand.

"I need y' help" Remy came out with quietly, feeling somewhat ashamed that he had come to his older brother for assistance.

"What? Non Remy. Y' made it quite clear dat y're family comes second t' y" Henry scolded, crossing his arms resolutely across his chest and staring sternly at his sibling.

"Please Henry. Dey follow'd us all de way t' Seattle an' den kidnapped Rogue. Now dey usin' her t' lure m' t'dem" He almost felt himself begging, for Remy it was like an out of body experience - but he needed help if he was going to go against the Assassins, he was a good fighter but not good enough to face off the odds he had against him.

Henry let this information sink in as he scrutinized the younger man in front of him - he looked tired as hell, if it wasn't for the adrenaline rush going through him right now he was sure he probably would have just collapsed right there and then.

"Y' love her don' y?" He asked abruptly, his conduct mitigating some. Remy swiftly turned his head to look his brother in the eyes at his question, several seconds passing as his dead-beat mind thought through the inquiry - did he love her?

"Oui, I do" He smiled to himself as the realization hit him, shaking his head in disbelief - he, Remy LeBeau was in love. Henry watched him intently, a small smile rising on his own mouth as his brother; the ultimate player accepted he was in love with someone.

"Alright Remy, I'll help y'. But not now, y' need some rest first hein" Henry sighed, placing a hand on his brothers shoulder. Remy looked at him incredulously before realizing that he was right, if he was going to get Rogue out of this mess then he needed to build up his energy first. He nodded silently and allowed himself to be led into the house.


	22. Mission

What was the point in trying to sleep? He had spent most of the remainder of the night tossing and turning, past events and actions rotating in his head constantly - a few times he had even seriously considered just sneaking out of the house and going off to face the Assassins alone, right there and then - but logic and reason stopped him before he could even open the door or window to the room he was staying in.

He felt a worry, deep set in his stomach making him feel nauseated and sick - and couldn't help blaming himself for her capture. If he hadn't of taken her with him, there may have been a small chance that Julien and his army of minions would have overlooked her existence in his life and she would have been at this very moment, experiencing another restless sleep or staring blankly at the walls as he knew she always did - instead of being held captive by a bunch of homicidal psychopaths.

The somewhat distant cries of an infant entered his ears, breaking his train of thought and he lie there quietly, listening as he heard his sister in-law cooing gently to the distressed child, the cries gradually diminishing to the occasional gurgle. Despite his predicament, a small smile crept upon him as he thought about his older brother and how much he had changed - they had been very close as children and only in recent years had they grown apart so to speak.

Remy remembered feeling a little resentful towards Henry for what felt like turning his back on him, but now he knew that he had just matured, grown up and moved on to the next stage of his life. Something that as a younger man, he could not understand or appreciate as yet.

Again his thoughts were immediately brought to a close as the door opened quietly and Henry walked in, closing it behind him and heading straight towards him swiftly - handing him an opened but blank envelope. Remy looked at him questioningly before taking it and removing the contents. His eyes narrowed and then widened as he read the single passage on the slip of paper and then noticed the stains of red around it.

"Found it on de doorstep jus' now. Dey know where y' are Remy an' dey want y' at de docks t'night" Henry gestured to the note in his brothers hand. Remy felt his heart jump and he promptly leapt off the bed he had been lying on and reached for his trench coat.

"Where y' goin Remy?" Henry asked in a hushed voice, bewilderedly.

"I ain't waitin', dis don't seem right some how" He replied brusquely, pulling on the well-favored coat.

"O' course it don't seem right, it's a trap! Y' go alone den y're puttin' y'rs and Rogues life at more risk . . ." Henry tried to reason, his voice raising as he watched Remy move around him towards the door.

"Den I take de gambit" He replied coolly as he made to open the door, though stopped in his tracks as somebody else entered the room.

"Henry what's goin' on . . . oh, Remy - what ar' y doin here?" Mercy asked with some surprise at seeing her husband's sibling unexpectedly in the guest bedroom.

"He stayed ov'r, was too drunk t' get home an' somehow ended up here so he stayed de night" Henry replied without falter, walking over to his wife and kissing her lightly on the cheek. The fair-headed woman smiled softly at her husband and then looked over to her bother in-law and tutted jokingly.

"Oh Remy, y' stayin' f' lunch?" She asked invitingly. Remy went to answer but was cut off by his brother quickly.

"Course he is chére. He gonna spend some quality time wit' his family non?" Henry countered, resting his eyes on Remy's resolutely. Remy gave an inward groan and smiled graciously at Mercy. Boy - his brother could be irritatingly manipulative at times.

"Bien. Well, y' boys keep it down - I jus' got de bébé back t' sleep," She said. stepping out of the room again leaving the two men to continue their conversation. Henry watched his wife disappear down the hallway before pushing the door to and turning his gaze back to his brother.

"Listen Remy, y' ain't t'inkin' straight. I know y' worried, but actin' impulsively ain't gonna get y' nowhere" He explained, staring intently. Remy sighed resignedly and nodded in understanding, running a hand through his hair and sat himself back down on the edge of the bed and stared at the floor.

"Y' not told Mercy den?" Remy asked quietly.

"Non, y' know what she's like - no point in gettin' her all work'd up ov'r not'in'" Henry watched as his brother merely snorted and shook his head a little.

"What 'bout Père?" He suddenly realized his father would be none to happy to hear of his returning to New Orleans just to save some girl and cause yet another rift between the guilds. He felt a hand on his shoulder and he raised his head to see Henry standing over him.

"We don't tell him" Henry replied. The two looked to one another, a silent understanding emerging between them.

* * *

She sat quietly on the damp floor, her arms tied securely above her to some kind of pipe, aching more as every minute passed. Countless attempts to free herself had all failed miserably, her captors had obviously taken note of her last Houdini trick and had made damn sure that she wasn't going anywhere this time. The open slice on her palm where Julien had cut her, stung horribly against the dank, stale air of what she assumed was an old, unused cellar of some sorts. Her eyes felt droopy with fatigue and her head still felt like it was going to explode from the amount of throbbing, but she forced herself to stay awake - this was no time to let down her guard, especially since Julien had already told her of her fate - she definitely wanted to be awake to try and prevent it.

Without warning the cellar door creaked open and she instantly raised her eyes in alert to see who or what was entering her temporary prison. To her astonishment, none other than Belladonna Boudreaux appeared at the top of the staircase.

As she descended the steps, Rogue took the time to fully prepare herself for whatever was going to happen and pulled herself from the floor into as strong a standing stance as she could muster - watching carefully as the taller woman approached her, dressed completely in a skin-tight black ensemble and her golden hair tied back tautly.

Belladonna stood a few feet away from her, looking her up and down as though she were the most disgusting thing to walk the earth, a small side wards smirk appearing on her mouth as she noticed how beat up the girl before her was.

"Well, well, well . . . if it isn't de little bitch who ran off wit' m' fiancé" She admonished sarcastically, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Ya're wrong, he ran ta get away from you" Rogue answered back insolently, getting a grim sense of satisfaction as Belles smile dropped, before she was slapped sharply across the face, forcing her head to loll to the side instantly.

"It don't matter eith'r way, y're both goin' t' pay wit' y're lives t'night!" She shouted back viciously. Rogue laughed despite herself, knowing it would wind the blond up even more.

"An' whaht if he doesn't turn up?" Rogue asked, trying her best not to wince as her cheek began to sting and burn from Belladonnas attack.

"Den I'll jus' have t' take pleasure in makin' y're death more interestin'" She sneered evilly, the corner of her mouth raising yet again in amusement as she watched her captive's face narrow her eyes.

"Yoah sick!" Rogue retorted hushed as the other woman's eyes lit up at her outward disgust. Two men appeared at the top of the staircase dressed like Belladonna, completely in black and swiftly made their way down to them, walking over to Rogue and began to untie her. Her mind screamed at her to make yet another attempt at escape, but her body felt near enough to collapse - she had never remembered feeling so weak than she did right now.

Her knees felt like jelly, her arms dead-weights - it would be futile, even if she did manage to get past the three Assassins surrounding her - she would then have to get through the rest of them above ground.

"Time t' go, it goes so quickly when y're having fun" Belle sneered at her before turning away. Rogue winced as yet more rope was squeezed tightly around her wrists behind her and was then pushed forward roughly toward the foot of the stairs - 'Ya had bettah beh theah Remy, or ah'll kill ya mahself if ah get out o' this!" She thought, or hoped as she was led out of the cellar.

* * *

Remy walked carefully along the dock, observing the area around him carefully for any movement at all - though it was difficult considering the low-lying mist surrounding the waters around the docklands, the orange glow from the street lamps doing nothing to help visibility.

Despite his outward appearance of calm, but alert - inside his heart thumped mercilessly against his chest, though he did his best to ignore it as he scanned his surroundings, waiting in anticipation for anyone or anything to come flying around the corner from one of the many industrial sized crates marring his view.

A figure came into view at the far end of the dock, near the waters edge - with a subtle inward breath he made his way casually toward the human form, stopping a few meters away from his foe.

"T'ought y' might hav' chickened out LeBeau?" Julien admonished sardonically as he watched the man send a glare toward him.

"Where is she?" Remy demanded darkly. Julien smiled wickedly before raising a hand and clicking his fingers mystically. A scuffle of feet and grunting could be heard as Rogue was brought into view, held tightly by her binds by a large, beast like man who Remy instantly recognized as Victor Creed.

He felt his blood boil as she became more visible to him, at once noticing the dried trail of blood down the side of her face and her hands bound behind her - he caught her eyes in his as she was thrown into Juliens grasp who in turn was flanked gradually by numerous other's from his clan, revealing themselves from their hiding places as did, much to his surprise his ex-fiancé Belle.

Rogue saw Remy as she was pushed forward by the over-sized creep from the plane whom she only remembered as 'Creed' - instantly feeling a pang of relief at the sight of him and allowed herself to be thrown toward Julien.

"Knew y're brot'er was crazy Belle, but I t'ought y' were at least a little sane" Remy thought aloud as Belle sauntered over to her brothers side.

"Y' know me Remy, I live f' revenge" She answered simply.

"Not gonna happen t'night Belle" The voice of Henry LeBeau filtered from behind a large crate as the man himself, along with several other guild members emerged from the misty dock, causing the Assassins to at once tense and stance themselves alertly. Each side equally matched in numbers revealed themselves, psyching each other out for what was next to be ensued. The battle had finally begun.


	23. Confrontations

Rogue's eyes widened in surprise as Henry LeBeau stepped out of the shadows into open view, as did others of what she immediately assumed were also thieves - some whom she recognized from the almost-wedding weeks before.

As the men revealed themselves to their enemies, she felt herself roughly tugged closer to Julien, the back of her hands instantly brushing against something sticking out of the pocket in his pants. She held back a gasp and her body froze instantly as a large blade was brought up to her neck swiftly, making her raise her head in shocked silence.

"Come any clos'r an' de filles blood will be decoratin' de floor!" Julien threatened menacingly, pressing the sharp blade closer to her neck, one hand securely fastened on her shoulder. The glint in his eye and the vicious tone in his voice told of the seriousness of his actions and he observed with wicked delight as his foes instantaneously halted mid-approach, breaths held in disquieted anticipation.

Both sides were at a stalemate, both waiting for the opposition to make the first move so that battle could commence - Remy felt his heartbeat quicken at Julien's menace, he felt his breath caught in the back of his throat and slowly, he released it raggedly.

"Let 'er go. It's me y' want" Remy breathed heavily, his eyes fixed to Julien's in a deep glare.

"Y' damn right Remy! Y' gonna pay f' leavin' me f' dat whore!" Belle screamed, eyes ablaze. Rogue tried not to flinch at the screech emitted from the hysterical woman close-by, as her fingers gently felt for the object poking from Julien's pocket.

"Any las' words t' y're petit' amie?" Julien sneered, smirking cruelly knowing that he had caught his long-time enemy right were he wanted him. Remy almost missed Julien's words as he carefully glanced to Rogue - not knowing whether he was imagining what he was seeing or not. He gulped as he looked up to her face, her eyes widened at the feel of the knife resting just above her voice box - her head tilted back, body trembling almost un-visibly at her pending fate.

He knew he had his back covered, he had no doubt about that - he trusted Henry, his cousins and friends unquestionably - they held as much distaste for the Assassins as he did, he just hoped they were prepared as to whatever was going to happen next.

"Y're right Belle . . . I couldn't marry you b'cause . . . I loved som'one else, I jus' didn't know it" Remy admitted assuredly, his eyes meeting Rogue's for the first time in what seemed like years since the last as she refocused immediately at his words, giving him a small smile as the impact of his confession registered in her mind. At once she heard a sarcastic snicker from her captor and reached out her fingers, wrapping them gently around the object in his pocket, praying silently that he wouldn't feel the slow movement as she removed it.

"How sweet - a fittin' confession f' . . ."His sentence remained unfinished as he suddenly cried out in pain, his thigh seizing instantly as the jagged blade of the pen-knife was thrust into the muscle and twisted ruthlessly into his flesh. The shock of the attack making his body jolt violently, Rogue using his pain as a distraction to make her escape, suddenly found herself being knocked back off the wharf and into the cold Mississippi waters.

Remy watched in bewilderment as he saw Rogue in one deceptively quick motion, use the best of her strength to stab something into Juliens leg and twisting it sharply in a surprise attack, before being pushed backwards by the commotion into the water below. As her body hit the water, he was suddenly brought back to his senses and ignoring Julien's cries of anguish and string of curses, started to run towards where Rogue had fallen as fast as he could - though all of sudden his objection being disrupted as a magnificent weight was thrown into his side, the object knocking him way of balance and his body collapsing beneath the heavy mass.

Despite his body feeling as though it had been crushed, he pushed himself away from the rotting deck to face his assailant. Victor Creed stood but a few feet from him panting heavily, his WWF wrestler-like physique moving visibly to his serrated breathing, waiting for his next move. Remy barely registered the cries and growls of more fighting ensuing behind him as the rest of either side of the guilds clashed together - as, with as much force as he could muster, he approached the lethiathon before him swiftly and sent forward a strong fist into his jaw, knocking him back a little.

Creed growled in frustration, scarcely feeling the impact of the blow and sent his body flying forward toward Remy, who deftly dodged him though was caught unaware as Creed quickly twisted about from his landing position and delivered a sharp punch between his shoulder blades, forcing him forward.

* * *

Her body hit the water ungraciously, her limbs instantly going into shock from the cold water as it touched her skin. Instinctively, she kicked her feet and pushed herself to the surface, breaking above the water she took an immediate deep breath and tried to move herself back toward the wharf.

Unexpectedly a young, dark haired man who looked to be about her age swam up beside her and ducked under the water - Rogue looked about frantically for him as he disappeared into the murky depths, suddenly feeling her hands being tugged and the binds releasing.

"Come on, dis way!" The young man cried as he broke the surface beside her and caught his breath, beckoning over to the other side of the wharf. Rogue followed him as he began swimming away, leading her to an old rusted, ladder attached to the side of the raised deck. Rogue pushed herself up first, crawling along the rotting wood closely followed by the young man who she turned to face, breathing heavily.

"Thanks" She said shakily, still catching her breath as the man stood up and held out a hand to pull her up, which she took graciously.

"Ar' y' okay?" He asked, pulling her to a standing position. Rogue nodded mutely, before unexpectedly noticing an unfriendly looking, approaching figure behind her savior.

"Watch out!" She exclaimed as Julien's features came into clearer view. The young man instantly turned at her cry but found himself at a loss as his body was pulled roughly towards the enemy. His mouth opened in a silent scream, blood slowly rising in his throat and trickling from the side of his gaping mouth as he looked down to the dagger pushed into his chest.

Julien smiled with evil satisfaction as he pulled the blade sharply from its resting place and watched as his victim slumped to the floor before swiftly disappearing back into the ensuing battle beyond. Rogue was stunned into silence as she observed, her body immobile to the shock - she quickly began to rush forward to the injured rescuer - but out of the blue her path was suddenly blocked by an antagonistic looking blond, yet another jagged and ferocious blade jabbing forward toward her - instantly forcing Rogue to stumble back into the more closed areas, surrounded by industrial sized crates and other shipping paraphernalia.

* * *

Remy heard Rogue's cry and instantly went to look for her in search of her voice, narrowly missing another overhead attack from Victor Creed as he ducked below the soaring goliath. He felt the unsteady flooring shake as his nemesis landed heavily - quickly rolling to the side he grabbed hold of a slim, but strong metal rod from amongst others of its kind, settled between rope and other bits and pieces.

As rapidly had he done this had Creed come rapidly towards him again, swiftly Remy pushed up the metal rod into Victor's abdomen, sending the heavy set man crashing into piles of crates and shipping goods. At this, Remy instantly looked back over to where he thought he had heard Rogue.

Without hesitation, his body began moving itself rapidly over to where he saw the fallen cadaver on the edge of the deck, the wood surrounding the still male form slowly soaking up the thick, red liquid oozing from under the motionless body. Remy felt his heart miss a beat and sink to his stomach as he closed in on the scene, soon realizing who it was as he ran the short distance that was left and instantly knelt beside the body, looking in despair over the lifeless figure of his cousin Etienne.

Pressing two fingers against his cousins cold neck, in silent hope that perhaps all was not as it seemed - though he soon gave up as he felt no pulse and scrunching his eyes in desolation, he mourned quietly for the loss of a beloved cousin.

Rage began to flow through his veins as he re-opened his eyes to see the lifeless young mans drained face - whispering a silent apology to Etienne, he placed a limp hand over the blood soaked puncture in his chest and raised himself resolutely. His eyes instantly scanning the area for one man in particular - Julien Boudreaux was going to pay big time.

* * *

The knife lodged itself fiercely into the crate, a few inches from the side of her face. Rogue looked over to the weapon eyes widened in alarm at the close call and then back to the approaching, murderous Assassin after her blood. Not taking her eyes from Belle, Rogue reached up both hands and with a sharp pull dislodged the foreign blade and moved herself into a fighting stance - she was fed up with running, this quarrel was going to end now.

Belle observed the other with some amusement as she shifted her posture, a twisted smirk appearing on her lips as she held out yet another sharpened weapon ominously.

"Oh look what de petit' fille found. It dangerous t' play wit' knives y' know?" Belle denigrated sarcastically as she approached confidently.

"Ah'll take yoah word foh it!" Rogue replied mordantly as Belle suddenly rushed her, slashing the large weapon in her grasp before her. Rogue twisted to the side at the last moment and proceeded to avoid more purposeful jabs and thrashes, managing to get in a few of her own as the two fought around the maze of the shipping yard. Belle snarled fiercely and made another lunge for her, the more experienced blond woman, seeming to have the upper hand in this fight and Rogue found herself slammed up against another crate as the knife wielding Assassin swiped at her.

Rogue sucked in a quick breath and went to avoid the attack at the last moment but seethed in pain as the other's blade sliced across her arm, making her body automatically twist about to face her attacker and she cried out again as she felt the knife rip across her upper thigh. Stumbling away as fast as she could against the searing pain she staggered away from the towering crates into yet another open deck near the waters edge and promptly fell against the decaying wood as she was pushed brutally from behind and rolled onto her back.

"Time t' end dis little dispute" The dangerous, glaring Belladonna Boudreaux let known to her as she stepped further toward her victim. Without warning and using the best of the strength that she had left, Rogue dexterously swept her legs forcefully under her attackers - sending Belle sprawling to the floor with a thud, her weapon sliding away, well out of arms reach. Using her remaining momentum, Rogue pulled herself up to an unsteady standing position, as did Belle.

"Y're damn rahte it's time ta end this" She breathed heavily, ignoring the cries and groans from her sore and aching body as she watched Belle reposition herself opposite her. With a loud, fanatical shriek Belle lunged for her yet again - Rogue at the last moment pulled back her good arm and clenched her fist, soaring it forward into the other woman's jaw and sending her flying backwards into the crates and such behind her.

At that instant she heard the heavy footsteps of someone behind her and as swiftly as her tired body would allow, twisted around to face the next pending combatant.

"You owe me a scream" The voice of 'Creed' made her shiver involuntarily as he appeared before her.

"Lahke hell ah do, fuzz ball!" She replied testily, to which he snarled. Rogue stepped to one side, as did he - then to the other, which he followed. With that he began to lope brusquely toward her - Rogue instantly looked around for her next exit route but found none and began stepping back away from him, as he suddenly pounced towards her.

Looking behind her, she noticed Belle removing herself from the wreckage she had been in and in a quick, nimble movement ducked to the side of the charging 'Creed' sending him flying into the recovering Belladonna, his weight pushing them both over the edge of the dock.

Sighing with relief as she heard and felt the splash of the water as their bodies went tumbling in - her thoughts instantly switched to Remy and she set off as quick as she could before the two Assassins behind her could catch up.

* * *

He glared silently as his adversary came into view, the fair-headed man turned stoically around as he heard the others footfall behind him. The two watched each other carefully, years of pent up anger and rage had been building up to this moment and neither was willing to back down.

"Let's finish dis," Remy said lowly, his hate for the man before him revealed in the very way he spoke.

"Y' said it" Julien replied just as adherently, all vengeful playfulness now gone. They took a step closer toward each other, eyes fixed - awaiting the imminent attack, psyching each other out - who would fold first? Eyes narrowed dangerously, their bodies automatically began to form a circle, forming an unconscious ring of death like Roman gladiators before their emperor. As though on automatic timer, they suddenly rushed for one another - Julien still having his blood stained weapon, slashed precariously at Remy who niftily avoided the mindless blade and at a convenient interval slammed his fist into the others ribs, throwing him backwards.

Taken by surprise, Julien growled in frustration and after quickly recovering made another run for his opponent - noticing his enemies bandaged arm he aimed directly for that and sliced the jagged blade across the dirtied dressing, forcing it open and allowing a new flow of blood to exude from the unhealed wound. Remy howled in agony as he was caught off guard and with imminent wrath, sent himself soaring into Julien, knocking him to the ground.

The two men grappled, a war of strength ensuing along with more hits and blows - both fighting for the upper hand. Finding himself at the bottom of the heap, Remy managed to elbow Julien in the throat, knocking the breath from the other man and kick him away from him. Julien quickly recovered and stumbled back, hitting the ground with a thud - his hand found the grip of his knife which he had dropped when the most recent wrestling match had been administered and raced toward his nemesis with anger aiding his speed.

Remy dodged his attack, but soon found himself slammed against the side of an industrial sized crate and grabbing hold of the edge of the knife as it came perilously close to sinking into his abdomen. Julien pressed for the blade to push into his foe's flesh, but Remy held it back - ignoring the pain as the toothed edges hacked into his palms, both of equal strength and using it all to the maximum in this one decisive movement. Remy felt his hands begin to slip and his face scrunched in pain as the tip of the blade broke through his shirt and into the outer barrier of skin.

"Look's like I won LeBeau - but don't worry y' won't b' alone f' long. Y're t'ieving family an' y're precious girlfrien' will soon join y' in hell!" Julien assured him brutally, an eerie smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth as victory was in sight. Remy found his rage boil to new depths and with one force of hidden strength, he released one hand from the blade and whacked Julien in the nose - twisting himself away and pressing Julien against the crate, maneuvering the knife rapidly and plunging it into the Assassins chest.

Julien stared out in shock, trying to take in breaths that could not get past his tonsils. Remy held the blade religiously in him, unable to push it any further into his flesh as he felt the tip hit the crate behind.

"No Julien, I won!" He finished in a sharp whisper before releasing his hold on the handle of the blade and stumbling backwards, the haunted light in his nemesis' eyes fading momentarily into the silence of death.

Turning away, he took a few steps before collapsing to his knees in exhaustion, his body aching and hurting intensely, muscles throbbing from extreme overuse, breaths haggard and rapid as he refused to succumb to his body's weariness.

"Remy!" He barely heard her call, but opened his eyes none the less at the sound of her voice.

Rogue called for him, finally halting as she caught sight of him kneeling on the ground exhausted - but alive. Relief spread over her as with a last bout of strength she limped as fast as she could over to him and fell to her knees before him, wrapping her arms around him.

The moment she reached him he grasped her tightly in a fierce embrace, pulling her as close to him as physically possible, never wanting to let go.

"Ah love ya Remy," She whispered softly into his shoulder.

"I love y' t chérie" He replied simply, savoring her words and feeling that all of this was worth it just to hear her say that.


	24. Epilogue

Another stone skipped its way across the calmly lapping water, causing the slightest of splashes as it hit the surface at least three times, before ultimately surrendering to gravity and eventually dropping into unknown depths.

The sun peaked hazily on the horizon in an impossibly warm, iridescent glow making the night time clouds drifting away in time for daybreak - stand out in blushing pinks and stormy purples. The lazy morning breeze finding its way into his dark hair, building up a little speed and rustling it about freely before dying down yet again and allowing it to ease back down into its rightful place.

He sighed softly and idly reached out his hand beside him, twisting the stones about in his hand, searching for a suitable dowry to pass on to the ocean beyond. Selecting one of the smooth, weather worn rocks and with an expert flick of the wrist, sent the pebble dashing toward the gentle water, repeating the actions of the previous stone and bouncing over the placid waves.

He had come to realize, much to his own surprise that this was his favorite time of day - seeing the beginning of a new sun, the feeling of being able to start afresh, such astounding beauty revealing the world as it is before the many bad things of life take over yet again.

The reminiscences of how he had first come to find sanctuary at such an early hour filtered into his mind, the corners of his mouth tugging into a small smile as he remembered another sleepless night and the foreign comprehension of utter contentedness not so many weeks ago - though a different view had been present then, the break of dawn was still able to wash his troubles and furies away and fill him with, dare he say it - a new sense of optimism.

His view was suddenly disrupted as a pair of hands shielded his eyes from behind, throwing him into darkness.

"Hmmm . . . I wonder who dat could be?" He pondered aloud with a sarcastic tone, staring blankly into the palms covering his eyes with an increasing grin rising on his mouth - hearing the person behind him sigh loudly with exasperation.

"Yoah not supposed ta beh . . ." Her reproach was cut off acutely as she was unexpectedly twisted about swiftly, landing on her back in his lap and kissed sensuously - she instantly relaxed into her new position and closed her eyes, kissing him back with as much intensity, giving into temptation and savoring the blissful sensation. He slowly pulled away and allowed himself to smile mischievously at the wry smirk adorning her lips, eyes meeting intensely as his face hovered but a few inches from her own.

"Mah leg hurts" She whispered almost inaudibly, not removing her gaze.

"Je suis désole" He replied just as quietly before helping her to sit up comfortably beside him and then wrapping one arm around her as she rested her head softly on his shoulder. Both looked out onto the gently rising, golden orb in the distance and without realizing, retreated back into the inner recesses of their own minds.

After being reunited following the disastrous showdown between Remy and Julien, they had been found by Henry and retreated back to his home to recuperate - literally collapsing from exhaustion into a slumberous coma after dressing the uncountable amount of wounds that had been sustained during the fight.

Rogue absentmindedly remembered being woken but a few hours later by Remy, not long before dawn and departing the Big Easy yet again before the cities occupants had even begun to rise.

Considering he had killed the solitary son of the leader of a formidable guild of Assassins - Remy had figured that sticking around in his beloved city was not a good idea and although he highly doubted they would seek him outside of New Orleans, staying within the city could have proven to be a fatal mistake.

"Ah'm sorry 'bout Etienne" Rogue said quietly, ignoring the feel of her hair whipping against her face and neck as the breeze picked up momentary speed. At her words, Remy looked over to her, brow knit and raised a hand tentatively to push away the stubborn strands of hair blowing in front of her face.

"It ain't y're fault chérie" He replied tenderly, knowing that she was feeling unreasonably guilty for his cousins untimely death. Yes, he was upset at the loss of a much-loved family member, but he knew, as did everyone else that it was not her fault - there was nothing that could have been done to prevent the assassin from murdering his cousin, or any of them for that matter.

"An' I'm sorry f' not bein' completely honest wit' y" His apology making her chortle a laugh at how irrelevant that all was to her right at this moment. Gently she lifted her head from his shoulder and raised her chin to press her lips softly on his - he welcomed the gesture amorously, relishing the chaste but heavenly adoration succumbed within it.

She pulled away and smiled softly, before gently removing herself from his hold. Remy observed as she picked herself up carefully from her seated position and quietly limped around in front of him - leaning down, she took hold of one of his hands and tugged at his arm for him to stand, which he did obligingly.

Wrapping one arm about each other, they set of at a leisurely pace down towards the gently lapping sea - immersing themselves in the gradually warming sun, savoring the natural sounds of the beach before the peace was broken by the ominous sun dwellers and holidaymakers. Content in the others embrace, they knew they had what it would take to start again.


End file.
